Chloe Decker, celestial consultant
by 1alucard1
Summary: Souls start disappearing in hell and reappearing on earth. A supernatural mystery that Lucifer simply cannot solve without the help of a certain detective (or maybe he just doesn't want to).
1. Chapter 1

Lucifer turned around, taking in the frozen scene. The room was just as it had been before its occupant first arrived, frozen at the beginning of his loop.

The problem was that this room should have been occupied. Had, in fact, been occupied for hundreds of years. And now it was empty.

Lucifer glared at the demon who had found the door of the room ajar, not so much because it was his fault, but more for a lack of somebody else to glare at. The demon ducked his head, slowly inching towards the door.

"No trace of him?" Lucifer inquired, already knowing what the answer would be.

"No, my lord."

Lucifer sighed. This was already the fourth mortal soul that had gone missing. At least, the fourth they were aware of. Hell wasn't exactly a small place. This might well be just the tip of the iceberg. So far, the search for them had been fruitless. That, too, wasn't unexpected. Trying to find anything in hell was like looking for a needle in a burning haystack.

What he didn't understand was how they had left their rooms in the first place. Nothing like this had ever happened here for millennia, and now it seemed like there was some sort of disappearing epidemic. Surely these cases were connected somehow. He just had to find the connection and he would have his answer. Lucifer glared at the demon again, for good measure. He backed away another step, only to collide with one of his brethren who had just hurried in through the door. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"My lord, there is a visitor for you in the reception hall."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Which one of my siblings has deigned me with their presence now?"

The demon frowned in deep concentration, but apparently failed to come up with a name. "The tall, angry guy with the black wings."

"Now now, is that any way to speak about one of your king's brothers?" Lucifer said, voice cold. The demon's eyes widened in horror. Lucifer raised a hand, smiling. "Just kidding. He's a pain in the ass." He looked around, deciding that there was nothing more to be done here at the moment. "Very well then, let's see what he wants."

* * *

Lucifer entered the massive hall made entirely of black stone, a hollow smile on his features. "Amenadiel. I didn't expect to see you for a couple of eons at least. I hear bringing up offspring is quite time-consuming." He smirked, wiping some dust off his sleeve. "Unless you do it like dad, of course. Then it takes no effort at all after the moment of creation."

"I am not here to talk about father."

Lucifer sat down in the black throne at the centre of the hall. It was a smaller version of the one atop the spire, but still quite impressive in its own right. "Then please do enlighten me as to why you're here, brother. You have me at the edge of my seat with anticipation."

"Something strange is happening on earth."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "There is always something strange happening on earth. Did I ever tell you about the time I visited in 1967 when I-"

"Lucy. This is serious."

Lucifer sighed. "Go on then. What has your panties in a twist now?"

"A story on the news about a man who has been dead for 22 years, who now reappeared, not looking a day older than when he died. The news reporter asked him where he'd been and he gave what I would call quite an accurate description of hell." Amenadiel paused, gauging Lucifer's reaction. "Did you, by any chance, loose one of your charges?"

Lucifer groaned. "Several, actually," he admitted. "Although I wasn't aware that one of them had made his way back to earth."

"Several?"

"At least four that I know of."

"What? How?"

Lucifer threw his hands up, glaring at his brother. "How the hell should I know? We just keep finding empty rooms with open doors. Nobody has seen or heard anything. They just disappear."

"How did they leave their cells?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes, making a frustrated huff. "As soon as I find one, I'll ask them. Until then your guess is as good as mine. You know just as well as me that the doors aren't locked."

Amenadiel shook his head. "Regardless, none of them have ever been able to leave before. Something is not right here, Lucy."

Lucifer stood up, coming face to face with his brother. "Indeed, it isn't. What do you suggest we do about it?"

"We capture the one on earth, question him as to the means of his escape, and bring him back where he belongs."

Lucifer smirked. "Sounds like an adventure."

* * *

It had turned out to be less adventurous and more tedious work than anticipated. Tracking down mortals on earth was only marginally easier than tracking them down in hell. They started with their only lead, the news channel in New York that had conducted the interview. Not only were they extremely reluctant to give them anything, but after some convincing, it turned out that they didn't actually have any useful information like the man's current whereabouts. It was a dead end.

Lucifer had consulted the records before they left, which meant that he had the names, dates of birth and days of death of their four runaways, but that was it. In the end, he'd been forced to admit that what they really needed were police resources. Which is what had brought him to where he was now.

He stood in the precinct, watching the detective at her desk. She was focussed on a case file and hadn't noticed his presence yet. He saw the dark circles under her eyes, the sadness in her features, the uncharacteristic air of defeat easily readable from her posture. He added them to the ever-growing list of his crimes. It had been almost five weeks since he left, but the detective was clearly still affected by his actions. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all. He could find the information he needed in some other way.

Just when he was about to turn around and leave, Chloe looked up, and their eyes met. She froze. Lucifer took a deep breath and stepped closer to her desk.

"Hey," he said. Chloe didn't react, she just continued staring at him, her mouth slightly ajar, her eyes wide in shock.

"I need your help."


	2. Chapter 2

Chloe stood up, grabbed him by the sleeve and manhandled him into an empty interrogation room.

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Think. You're. Doing." She emphasised each word with a shove against his chest. He didn't even flinch. It was like trying to shove a boulder. He really was all muscle. What was she doing again? Right. "How dare you? I pour my heart out to you, and you vanish on me, and now you have the nerve to just show up and hey me?"

He looked at her, a fond half-smile on his face. "I missed you too, detective."

And there it was. He looked at her with those damnable sad puppy dog eyes, and she just couldn't stay mad at him. He was the devil, for God's sake. She knew he was the devil, and yet he was still able to pull that look on her.

"I need your help," he repeated, looking lost. Damn him.

She rubbed her hands over her eyes, her sudden anger fading already, leaving a numb tiredness behind. "With what?"

"I need your help with a case."

Chloe frowned. She couldn't have heard that right. "Somebody was murdered," she said, tilting her head to the side with a confused expression. "In hell?"

"Not exactly."

She made an impatient gesture with her hand, meaning for him to get out with it already.

"I may have- um, temporarily misplaced a handful of souls."

Chloe was getting more and more confused by the minute. "What? How do you misplace souls? Where did they go?"

"To earth, apparently. I need to find them."

Chloe nodded. Sure, why not. "Right. Is this a common occurrence? Are you on earth all the time collecting lost souls? Didn't you think this was something I might have wanted to know when you left?" She bit her tongue just in time before the word me slipped out.

Lucifer cleared his throat. "This is a first for me, actually. Never lost one of them before. I tried to track one of them down with Amenadiel's help, but we were unsuccessful. I find myself in need of your skills, detective, as well as access to the police database."

Chloe frowned. "Wouldn't Maze have been a better choice of partner? She knows the ins and outs of hell, and she's a bounty hunter. Seems like the perfect candidate to track down errant souls."

Lucifer stared at her. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He'd been so sure he absolutely couldn't do without the detective's help, and yet this obvious solution had been sitting right there in front of him, and he'd just walked blindly past. He cleared his throat again, refusing to reexamine his motivation. He was here because he needed police resources, that was it. Nothing else to it. "I've already drawn Amenadiel into this. After everything that happened, I think Linda deserves better than me sending away her entire support team." There. That was a reasonable explanation. That was probably what he'd been thinking.

Chloe frowned but didn't comment on his shady reasoning. She sighed, rubbing her hand over her eyes. "How did they escape hell in the first place?"

"That is another part of the mystery that needs solving." He regarded her, delighted that she was actually considering it. "Please, detective. One last case together, for old times' sake?" He gave her a pleading look. "We really can't have former occupants of hell running around, telling stories. I mean, existential spoiler alert, right?" He smiled brightly, but Chloe didn't seem to find his jest particularly funny. He turned serious again immediately. "We've seen in the past that mortals who have been in hell can pose a grave threat. They can be ruthless, and completely without empathy, because they know exactly what fate has in store for them, and where they will eventually spend all of eternity. All I'm asking is your assistance in tracking them down, and then I'll be out of your hair again, I promise."

Chloe sighed again. She'd always had a problem with saying no to Lucifer. "How long is this going to take? I can't just disappear from work, you know."

A slow smile started spreading over his features. He realised that she wanted to say yes, they just needed to figure out the logistics. "I thought you'd collected a bunch of holiday days?"

"You expect me to spend my holidays tracking down people in order to throw them back into hell? Sounds like a fun, relaxing leisure activity indeed."

Lucifer could also think of a couple of leisure activities he'd rather be engaging in with the detective, but he bit his tongue. Those things were never going to happen, and it would be foolish to even let them into his mind. He had a sudden inspiration. "It doesn't have to be a leisure activity. I think it would be only fair to pay you for your consulting services."

Chloe frowned. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Why not? I'm asking for your professional advice on these matters, the least I can do is provide you with a reimbursement for your time." The pleading look was back, now supported by a hopeful smile, and she really didn't have it in her to turn him down.

"Fine."

He literally made a small jump of joy, and Chloe couldn't help but smile at his excitement. She had a feeling she might regret her decision later, when the time came to say goodbye to him once more, but that moment was hopefully far away. First, they would get to spend some time together. She tried not to get too excited at the prospect. It would only be temporary, after all.

"Excellent. When can we start?"

"I have a case that I need to wrap up first, and then I have to speak with the lieutenant. I have to see if I can make some arrangement."

Lucifer nodded eagerly, all excited puppy. "Need a hand with wrapping up your case? The sooner we can move on to my problems, the better."

Chloe shrugged. "Sure, why not. Do you have any information about your runaways that can help us to track them down?"

"Names, dates of birth, and the time and date of their passing."

"Okay, let's run that through the system while I get you up to speed with my current case."

They went back to Chloe's desk. She sat down, wondering how she'd let herself get roped into this celestial emergency. "Okay, give me the names."

Lucifer rattled down a list of, mostly confusing sounding, names.

"Yeah, I'll need some help with the spelling on those."

Lucifer leaned over, regarding her keyboard. "I think you're lacking quite a few symbols. For starters, I don't see a single rune on here."

Chloe groaned. "Lucifer, when exactly were these people born?"

"1964, 1899, 1631 and two in the 9th century, people weren't so fussy about exact dates back then."

Chloe stared at him, feeling a weirdly nostalgic sort of exasperation. This was exactly how she remembered working with Lucifer. "And what in the world made you think I would be able to find these people in the police database?"

He vaguely waved his hand around. "I don't know, it seems like you always just magically turn up the address of whoever we're looking for, I never gave it much thought."

Chloe sighed. It seemed to become a habit around Lucifer. "Okay, who's from 1964?"

"Peter Harrison. He gave an interview to a small news station in New York recently, mentioning quite a few details he should better have kept to himself."

"Let's start with him, then." She was just about to ask him for the exact date of birth when she spotted Ella approaching from the lab. Ella noticed Lucifer at her desk and froze. She gave Chloe a questioning look. Chloe just shrugged her shoulders in reply. Ella cautiously came closer, looking back and forth between Chloe and Lucifer.

"Hey stranger, where have you been?" Ella asked casually.

"Hell," Lucifer supplied distractedly, focussed on Chloe's screen.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Lucifer looked up, meeting her eyes, a sad smile on his lips. "The place is actually not that bad, once you get used to it. The company leaves a lot to be desired, though," he said, throwing a quick glance in the detective's direction before looking at Ella again.

Ella hummed, ducking her head a little to the side, looking from one of them to the other. Then she handed Chloe the file she'd been carrying. "The results from the Pearson's case. The residue is definitely kaolin clay, as I thought."

"Thanks, Ella."

Ella looked back and forth between the two of them one last time, then she slowly walked away, back towards her lab.

Lucifer gave Chloe a bright smile that was all teeth and didn't reach his eyes. "We're off to arrest a murderous potter then?"

"Maybe," Chloe said. She stood up and grabbed her jacket.

"Delightful," he stated, still smiling brightly. She walked out, and he followed a step behind, wondering if he had made a huge mistake coming here, and if this was going to blow up in his face somehow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe threw a worried glance at Lucifer in the passenger seat. He was jiggling his leg and drumming his fingers on his knee. He was the very picture of nervous energy. She had given him a rundown of her current case on the way, but he'd barely been paying attention, clearly lost in his own thoughts. She wondered why he even bothered. It must all seem so trivial, so meaningless to him, compared to the issues he was dealing with.

What was catching one murderer compared to keeping watch over all the souls in hell? How could he possibly think her work was important? Yes, he appeared to enjoy making sure evildoers got what they deserved, but working with her really seemed like a task unworthy of the devil's attention.

Lucifer cleared his throat, drawing her out of her thoughts. "I hope you do not find it presumptuous of me to ask for your help with my problems."

Chloe frowned. Where was this coming from? "No, not at all. I'm just afraid they might be a bit out of my league, that's all."

Lucifer made a surprised chuckle, glancing over at her. "Oh, please. You can't possibly be serious. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met. You have impeccable instincts, and you trust them rather than ignoring them as most of you mortals choose to do. You do things by the book, and still get more cases solved than anybody else. There is nobody more capable." He said the words with utter conviction, and Chloe stared at him, her mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. Was that really how he saw her?

She quickly focussed her attention back on the road. "Thank you," she mumbled, feeling her cheeks redden.

They arrived at their destination, saving her from having to address his words any further. She stepped out of the car quickly, taking a moment to collect her thoughts.

* * *

Their suspect was supposedly teaching a pottery class at the local community centre. A picture she had trouble aligning with that of a cold-blooded killer. She peeked through the glass window in the door of the classroom. Their suspect was standing at the front, something looking like clay in his hand. There didn't seem to be any immediate cause for alarm.

She opened the door slowly, one hand on her weapon but leaving it holstered. Lucifer entered the room behind her, a reassuring presence by her side. Their suspect looked up at them. He froze for a split-second, then he made a run for the open window.

"LAPD. Freeze," Chloe yelled, already starting after him. The classroom happened to be on the ground floor of the building. He made a swift jump over the window sill. Chloe cursed, going after him. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Lucifer went back through the door, presumably to try and cut him off somehow. She didn't spare him any more thought, instead focussing on not loosing sight of their suspect.

He was surprisingly fast, shoving passersby out of the way ruthlessly as he made his wild dash to get away from her. Chloe followed close on his heels, until he turned the wrong corner, crashing into Lucifer's chest midrun. Lucifer caught him easily, seemingly undisturbed by the heavy impact. He held him with one hand by his shirt for a moment, then shoved him against the wall. It wasn't exactly gentle, but Chloe was well aware that he was only using a fraction of his real strength.

Lucifer dropped his hand from the collar of his shirt, giving the man an annoyed glare. "Very disappointing. You really could have put in a bit more effort to make this a challenging chase, seeing as this is the last police case the detective and I will ever work together."

"I'm sorry?" he said, looking confused, and a bit frightened. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"Why did you run?" Chloe asked.

"I didn't kill him," he stated, a pleading look in his eyes.

Lucifer frowned. "Doesn't sound like a very convincing reason to run away. Now, if, on the other hand, you had actually killed him, that would be a great reason to make a run for it. And if I recall correctly what the detective told me earlier-" He gave Chloe a proud little smile saying see, I was listening. "-you were spotted by two witnesses in the vicinity of the crime scene shortly after the estimated time of death." He turned to Chloe. "I say we arrest him."

"No, please. I knew how it would look, but you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with it."

"Tell us what happened," Chloe said calmly.

"He was already dead when I got there."

Lucifer huffed. "Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say."

"It's the truth! I would never harm anybody! Least of all Jeff."

"So why didn't you call the police when you found him?" Chloe asked, and Lucifer nodded.

The suspect fidgeted in place, looking from side to side desperately. Lucifer gave him a bright smile, raising his eyebrows expectantly, as if he were just waiting for him to make another escape attempt.

"Listen, we had been arguing recently, but it was just a misunderstanding between friends. We would have made peace eventually, we always did. It was nothing, really. But some of his colleagues saw us yelling at each other about a week ago, and when I found him, I just panicked, thinking you would draw the wrong conclusion."

"What were you arguing about?"

He looked chagrined, slumping against the wall. "A woman."

Lucifer rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "When will you people finally learn. You don't fight over women like they are some prize to be won, you simply wait for the lady to take her pick."

Chloe's eyebrows shot up as she remembered events from not so long ago when Lucifer seemed to have a rather different view on the topic. She shook her head, chasing away those memories. Marcus was gone and she'd rather forget that whole nightmare ever happened.

"It wasn't like that," their suspect stated defensively. "I love her." He looked from one of them to the other pleadingly. "Please, you have to believe me. I wouldn't harm a fly. You can ask anybody! I'm a pacifist. I don't believe in violence."

"Unless somebody is after your woman?" Lucifer asked, raising an eyebrow. Their suspect shook his head vehemently.

"We're taking you in for further questioning," Chloe said. She had the feeling that he was telling the truth, yet the circumstantial evidence was very much against him. Maybe they could find out more with a proper interrogation. The man gave her a panicky look, but Lucifer just grabbed him by the arm, leading him back to the car. They deposited him in the back seat of the cruiser.

Lucifer brushed some invisible dust from the sleeve of his suit jacket. "You think he did it? Are we done here?"

Chloe shook her head. "It felt like he was telling the truth. Maybe he's just an excellent liar, I don't know. But no, I don't think he did it."

"Excellent," Lucifer stated, smiling brightly.

Chloe turned to him, frowning. "I thought you couldn't wait to be done with this? And now you're hoping for longer chases and new suspects?"

"Umm," Lucifer said, looking like she'd caught him doing something he shouldn't have been doing. He sighed. "You're right. We have bigger fish to fry."

Chloe's eyes narrowed at his words. "Do we? Are you saying catching this killer is not important to you?"

He stared at her, looking completely bewildered. "What? No. Whatever gave you that idea? I was simply agreeing with you that we indeed better get on with this case so we can turn to my problems. They might be on a bigger scale, but that doesn't mean I don't care about what we are doing here together."

Chloe hummed, somewhat mollified by his answer. She wasn't entirely sure why she had attacked him like that in the first place. He had been nothing but helpful so far, not engaging in any of the shenanigans he usually got up to at crime scenes. She couldn't help but feel that things were a little off between them. Maybe it was because of what they had admitted to each other that day on the balcony, or because both of them knew that this was only temporary.

But whatever the reason, they simply didn't share the effortless communication they had in the past, when sometimes one of them would just look at the other, and they would exchange whole sentences without uttering a single word. Chloe sighed. She missed those days a little. Everything had been simpler then. Back in the days when she just thought of him as an eccentric playboy, and she hadn't been actively involved in the inner workings of heaven and hell.

She shook her head, chasing away the nostalgic thoughts, and opened the driver side door, stepping in.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe sighed, reaching for the remote in order to turn off the TV. She had just taken Trixie to bed, and foolishly believed she could distract herself. She gave up after all of 15 minutes, her mind still way too preoccupied with Lucifer's return. Temporary return, she reminded herself.

They had put their suspect into the interrogation room but hadn't been able to get any more useful information out of him. They were going to follow up tomorrow by questioning the woman the two of them had been fighting over, but Chloe had an inkling that he wasn't their guy. They needed to find other avenues to explore if they didn't want to land in a dead end with this investigation.

Lucifer had excused himself after the interrogation, ominously saying that he needed to take care of something. She'd nodded and watched him leave, and she'd had this irrational impulse to run after him, stop him, and draw him into a hug. She already dreaded the moment she'd have to say goodbye to him again. He hadn't left permanently, just now, and yet she'd felt a moment of panic at seeing him go. She imagined this feeling would multiply a hundredfold when he really had to leave again.

She stared at the remote dumbly, wondering if it would be better to go to bed now and lay awake thinking about Lucifer, or if she should turn the TV back on, and look at it some more without catching anything that happened on screen. Neither option seemed very appealing.

A soft knock on the door saved her from making a decision. She frowned, going to answer it.

"Hi," Lucifer said, smiling. He seemed unsure of himself, fidgeting in place.

She stepped aside to let him in, wondering what had brought him to her apartment.

He tentatively walked inside as if he wasn't sure himself what he was doing there. He turned around, facing her. "I went back to check on things. We've lost at least three more souls. It really seems to be an epidemic."

"You went back to hell?" Chloe asked, the pictures Kinley had showed her in Rome coming to her mind unbidden. What kind of place was it where Lucifer would have to spend the rest of eternity? How was it fair to trap him there without any chance of ever redeeming himself, of proving his worth, of escaping hell? What could possibly be the point of that?

"Yes, I wanted to make sure everything was still in order," Lucifer said, unaware of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry," Chloe said, apropos of nothing.

"You're sorry?" Lucifer repeated, frowning.

"I'm sorry you had to go back to hell. I'm sorry all of this happened when we'd just figured things out. I'm sorry I was afraid of you. I'm sorry I didn't trust my instincts in the first place, and listened to what other people said about you. I'm sorry your dad is an ass." She stopped the rapid flow of words, thinking about that one for a moment. "I'm really sorry your dad's an ass, because that means all of us are kind of screwed. I'm sorry you have to go back, I wish there was something I could do to change it, but there isn't."

He stared at her, and for a split-second there was a pained expression ghosting over his face, mixed with a sort of fondness. Then the usual mask slipped back into place, and he took a step away from her. He drew in a sharp breath.

"None of that is your fault." He cocked his head to the side, considering. "Well, maybe, some of it is your fault, but you have nothing to apologise for anymore, detective. I understand what happened, I understand why you acted in the way you did, and I won't hold it over your head any longer, I promise."

"It's just not fair," Chloe protested, all of the emotions she'd kept bottled up since his reappearance at the precinct finally breaking free. "Why does it have to be you? You're not evil, you don't belong there. Let Amenadiel do it! Or one of your other siblings! You've changed so much, learned so much, and it just isn't fair. Why can't he see that? Why doesn't he care?"

Lucifer gave her a sad little smile that, if her heart hadn't already been breaking for him, surely would have done her in. She disregarding all of the warning bells telling her that it was a bad idea, that she shouldn't get too close, that it would just hurt all the more later, and stepped forward, embracing him in a tight hug.

He froze, as he always did in the first moment of an embrace, making her wonder how many times he'd actually experienced this in his long life. Had there been affectionate hugs for him before she, Ella and Trixie had come along? She certainly hoped so, but she couldn't be sure. After a couple of seconds, he relaxed slightly, his arms coming around to embrace her in turn. He sighed, dropping his head a little to rest on top of hers.

Chloe drew her arms around him even tighter, as if she could somehow keep him by her side forever if she only held on firmly enough. She knew it was an irrational thought, but she didn't fight it, instead she just gave in to the impulse, holding on to him for dear life. He smelled faintly of fire and brimstone, reminding her again of where he'd just come from, and where he'd have to go back eventually.

She was crying now, everything she'd tried to keep in check pouring out, and she let it happen, feeling too exhausted to keep up appearances any longer. Lucifer just held her, starting to draw small soothing circles on her back with his right hand. It's not fair, she thought fervently, maybe at God, maybe at somebody who actually cared. It's not fair. You can't have him. He belongs here.

After what felt like a long time, but was in reality probably only minutes, she finally calmed down. She took a deep breath and tried to pull back. The only problem was, Lucifer didn't let her go. She dropped her arms to her side, trying to gently move away from him again, with the same result. She was locked in a tight embrace with barely enough room to breathe and he wasn't giving an inch.

"Umm, Lucifer?" she asked, trying to lean back far enough to at least be able to make eye contact.

It was as if he came to from a sort of trance, quickly letting her go and taking a step back. "Sorry," he said shyly. He really wasn't acting like himself today. Well, she'd just had a bit of an emotional outburst herself, so who was she to judge.

She dabbed at the tear trails on her face with the sleeve of her shirt. "Yeah, umm, sorry about that. You said more souls have disappeared? It's getting worse?"

"It would appear so," he said thoughtfully.

Chloe nodded, having reached a decision. "Then I better hand the case off to somebody else and we get on this immediately. Well, first thing in the morning."

He seemed taken aback by her offer. "Are you sure about this, detective? I don't want you to do something for me that you'll regret later. This victim deserves justice just as much as all the others."

"I'm not the only good detective at the precinct. I'll hand the case over with everything we've found so far, they will catch the killer."

He cocked his head to the side, still looking doubtful.

"You told me yourself that these souls present a potential danger, right? What if one of them kills somebody while we are busy with my case? This murder has no signs of a serial killing, so it's unlikely more people will come to harm, but the people you are trying to find have been in hell. There might very well be cold-blooded killers among them. We need to track them down as soon as possible."

He nodded. If he was disappointed about just handing over their last police case together to another detective, he didn't show it.

"Besides, the only lead we currently have is in New York. We'll need to arrange flights, I'll have to speak with the lieutenant about my holiday days, I need to find somebody to take care of Trixie-"

"Do you trust me?"

She frowned, confused by his question. "Of course I do."

"Then I know a faster way to New York, which doesn't involve the unpleasantries of airport security."

Chloe stared at him, her eyes slowly widening as she realised what he was implying.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ready?" Lucifer asked. He sounded as if he was trying to project confidence while hiding his nervousness. Or maybe that was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Technically she was ready, she supposed. She had handed her open case over to one of her colleagues. She had no doubt that with Ella's brilliant insights they would be able to close it. She had also managed to convince the lieutenant to give her two holiday days on super short notice due to personal reasons, and then it was the weekend anyway.

Trixie would be staying with Dan for the next three days. Chloe had told her the truth about where she was going, at least the part that was easy to explain. Lucifer needed her help with a problem, and they had to travel to another city to try and solve it.

So, technically she was ready to go.

Chloe leaned on the railing of the balcony at Lucifer's penthouse, looking down with a slight feeling of apprehension. Maybe the location had been a bad choice. It was great as a starting point to take off, but to her it brought back bad memories at a time when she was already feeling anxious.

The more she thought about it, the more the whole idea seemed ridiculous. He was going to carry her in his arms while flying to New York, like some superhero. Was this really her life now?

"What if you have a heart attack while we're in the air?" she asked worriedly, imagining plummeting to her death with a suddenly unconscious Lucifer.

"Angels don't have heart attacks," he stated confidently.

"Ah, but you're susceptible to mortal afflictions while you're around me. What if you can have a heart attack?"

"I won't have a heart attack."

"What if I have a heart attack?" she inquired, looking down towards the street, which seemed suddenly very far away. She couldn't imagine flying above the city without the security of an airplane around her.

"Then I take you to the hospital quicker than any ambulance on the planet could." He paused, sighing. "It's okay if you have second thoughts about this. There are several people in L.A. that own private jets and owe me a favour. We don't have to do this if you don't want to."

He sounded disappointed, and possibly a little hurt. Like he thought she didn't trust him enough to go through with this.

"I want to do it," she stated firmly, surprised to find that it was the truth. Sure, the idea was scary, but also amazing in a way. To be alone with Lucifer, flying without the help of any machine, just the two of them high up in the sky. It sounded magnificent in theory. It was just her stupid practically oriented mind throwing scenarios of everything that could possibly go wrong her way.

He came to stand next to her at the railing, apparently content to wait for her to figure it out on her own.

"How fast can you fly anyway? You said we'd be faster than a plane? How is that even possible? That sounds way too fast without having some sort of protection around us."

He leaned his arms on the railing, smiling. "I do not exactly have to comply with all the rules of physics while using my wings. Those can be a little restrictive sometimes. It's difficult to explain. It's like we don't have to travel the entire journey on this plane of existence. A bit like taking a shortcut, if you will."

Chloe nodded. Sure, that sounded reasonable. Not following the laws of physics when they were inconveniencing you. She felt hysterical laughter about to burst out of her and pushed it down forcefully. Lucifer had already sounded hurt before, she didn't want him to think she was laughing at him.

"What if I have to throw up?" she asked, imagining some poor guy on the ground getting doused in her vomit.

Lucifer chuckled. "Then you'll just tell me and I'll have you back on the ground in the blink of an eye."

"What if we collide with a plane? There is a lot of air traffic over L.A."

"I won't collide with a plane. Detective, I know you are a rational person. You need to understand how things work before you can place your faith in them. I'm afraid that's not possible in this case. I can't explain it in a way that will make sense to you. You just have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

She looked down at the street again, her stomach doing an uncomfortable flip at the thought of being in the air this high without having something to stand on with her own two feet. Then she looked over at Lucifer and the feeling vanished. He wasn't going to drop her. He wasn't going to endanger her in any way. He had always protected her from any physical danger coming her way for as long as she'd known him. She would be save.

"I trust you." She closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath. She opened them again, looking at him with conviction. "Let's do this."

Lucifer gave her a surprised smile, as if he'd already resigned himself to the fact they would be taking a plane after all.

He stepped forward, lifting her up into a bridal carry without any visible effort. She drew her arms around his neck, feeling giddy. She'd never admit to anybody that she was actually enjoying this.

Chloe heard a whooshing sound, accompanied by a little gust of wind blowing in her face, and two magnificent bright white wings appearing behind Lucifer. The last time she had seen them she had been too caught up in the moment to really appreciate them properly. Now she drank in the sight of hem, delighting in their beauty.

"They are marvellous," she told Lucifer, voice filled with wonder. She drew her eyes away from his wings to look at his face, so very close to hers. She was worried that she might have offended him, given his complex and, to some degree, aversive view of his own wings, but he was just smiling fondly at her.

"Can I touch them?" she asked, suddenly very aware of how close they were. He nodded slowly, looking at her as if she were the most wondrous thing he'd ever seen, even though he was the one who was currently sporting two massive wings on his back.

Chloe slowly drew her right arm back from around his neck. It wasn't like she needed it for support anyway. He held her in his arms as if she weighed nothing. Yet, in spite of his incredible strength, he held her impossibly gently, like she was something precious and delicate.

She touched the feathers close to his shoulder blades with the tips of her fingers. Lucifer drew in a sharp breath, the wing twitching slightly. "Sorry," he said, "It's been a long time since anybody touched them. It tickles."

She slowly drew her fingers along the very top of the wing. Lucifer closed his eyes, humming contently. Encouraged by his reaction, she drew the flat of her palm gently over the base of the feathers and a bit downwards. There was another thing right there she'd probably never admit to anybody, stroking Lucifer's wing. The wing moved towards her hand slightly, doing what she could only describe as leaning into her touch.

Lucifer opened his eyes, looking at her dazedly, clearly affected by what she was doing. Chloe filed that information away for later use. Then her enjoyment of the situation dimmed somewhat as she reminded herself that there would be no later for her and Lucifer.

Chloe abruptly stopped what she was doing and drew both her arms around his neck once more. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She heard Lucifer chuckle. She was so close to him that she actually felt his chest move.

"C'mon, detective. I know for a fact that you are braver than this. The take-off is the best part. Have a look. I promise it won't hurt."

She shook her head, drawing her arms tighter around his neck.

"Alright, then. Here we go."

She heard the soft flap of the two massive wings coming down, and felt the air move around them, her hair getting blown every which way. She almost opened her eyes, her curiosity getting the better of her, but decided against it in the last moment. She wasn't a particular fan of heights, and the idea of getting nauseous mid-air was not very appealing. As long as she kept her eyes closed, she could pretend that she was just in Lucifer's arms, safely on the ground. Standing next to a large fan blowing wind in her face.

"You can open your eyes now," Lucifer said, after not even a minute had passed judging by her internal clock. Chloe hesitantly opened her eyes, and screamed in surprise as she took in the landscape below them. She would have hit Lucifer if she hadn't been too busy holding on to him for dear life.

"You said it was safe for me to open my eyes," she complained.

She actually heard the smirk in his voice. "It was always safe to open your eyes. It would have been a shame for you to miss this."

Chloe was so going to smack him. Once they were on safe ground again. She moved her head even closer to Lucifer while she stared down, taking in the scenery below them. She had to admit it was a beautiful sight. They were somehow already way past the city limits, the landscape below them rather idyllic. She wondered how that had happened, since they seemed to be moving along at a rather leisurely pace, much like a hot-air balloon ride. She listened to the reassuring sound of Lucifer's wings moving in a slow rhythm, reminding her of a heartbeat.

Then her glance moved up, towards the clouds. They seemed almost close enough to touch. She thought about asking him to fly through them, just to know what it felt like. It was probably a nice idea in theory, and wet and freezing in practice. How cold was it up that high anyway? She was already shivering at their current altitude. She wondered if people on the ground could still see them, and what they thought of them. Maybe they mistook them for a very large bird?

Chloe remembered clearly how her father had taken her bird watching outside the city once. It had been a great day, just the two of them, away from the noise and the chaos of the city. She remembered how her father had explained that birds were able to fly in part because they had hollow bones, making them very light. She had asked him then how big the wings of a human would have to be in order to be able to fly.

Chloe didn't recall how old she'd been then, but she remembered very well how her father had taken the time to explain to her in detail why it wasn't possible for a human to fly. The specifics had faded in her memory but she knew that it had something to do with the weight to strength ratio.

Well, Lucifer was supernaturally strong. Maybe that was how he was able to make it work. But there was simply no way he should have been able to take off in the way he'd done at the penthouse, lifting the combined weight of both of them off the ground in one swift movement of his wings. She suddenly had a very vivid picture in her mind of Lucifer trying to get off the ground while having to obey the laws of physics, his wings flapping wildly like a hummingbird's. She giggled. She could feel Lucifer tense a little, probably wondering what had gotten into her.

Maybe it was time she took Lucifer's advice for once. Maybe there was no point in trying to figure this out. Maybe it was just magic. Or, rather, divinity. He had been right about her, she could never put her faith into something that wasn't proven, something she couldn't explain. But, in the end, she wasn't putting her faith in divinity, she was putting her faith in Lucifer, and she was certain he would not let her down. Or, more precisely, let her drop.

"You said we would be faster than a plane," she reminded him. "At this speed, it's going to take us days."

She felt more than heard him chuckle next to her. "We're taking the scenic route. This part is just for you."

Chloe dislodged her arm from around his neck long enough to tap him on the chest. It really could hardly be called a punch, it was playful more than anything. "I think I've seen enough of the scenic route. Let's get a move on. Also, which route isn't scenic when you're flying?"

He just smiled at her. It was a weird angle, to be in his arms like this while he was almost vertical, both of them being carried by nothing more than a bunch of feathers. And a touch of the divine.

"You might want to close your eyes for this next bit. It can be a bit disorienting."

Chloe immediately did as she was told. She had no intention of finding out what Lucifer, somebody who had been used to flying since the dawn of time, would consider a bit disorienting. She drew both her arms around him in a very tight grip once more. He didn't seem to mind, at least he didn't complain about practically being put in a chokehold.

There was a split-second of a sensation she would never be able to put into words. It was like all the air was getting sucked out of the vicinity, while the universe was doing a backflip, and then the whole thing was over before she even had time to process what was happening.

She must have cuddled up even closer to Lucifer, because there was now no space at all left between them. She had melted her head to his chest, holding on tightly. She didn't move, wondering if the weird sensation from earlier would make a reappearance. After a moment, she became aware of a change in their surroundings. The howling of the wind had been replaced with the faint honking of cars and the familiar hubbub of a big city.

The quite novel sensation of being propelled through the air by moving wings had also ceased. It seemed like they were standing on firm ground once more. She hesitantly opened an eye to take a peak. They were standing on the roof of a massive skyscraper, the beautiful skyline of New York stretching in all directions around them.

Chloe cleared her throat and removed her arms from around his neck, feeling a little silly at her reaction now that they were back on the ground. Well, back on some form of solid ground, even if they were still high up, technically speaking.

Lucifer gently put her down on the roof, taking a step back. Thankfully, they were quite a bit away from the edge, which was just fine with her. She had enough of heights for the time being.

"Right. Okay. Umm," she said, trying to collect her thoughts, her mind still high up, caught up in flying in Lucifer's arms, just the two of them, the rest of the world somebody else's problem for once. She closed her eyes, recalling all the small details of the experience and committing them to her memory. Well, she would get to experience it at least one more time before he vanished on her again.

"Are we on the right building?"

He scoffed. "Of course, detective. Have you ever known me to make a mistake?" She turned to him, raising an eyebrow, and he looked sheepish for a moment. Which was a funny sight, with the two magnificent white wings stretched out behind him. He made a sort of shrugging movement with his shoulders, and they vanished.

Chloe wondered for a moment how he could make them appear and vanish through the fabric of his suit, then she shook her head, adding the thought to the Don't question, just go with it pile of things that was steadily growing larger the longer she walked in Lucifer's world.

She had found the address of Harrison's only living relative, a daughter, who happened to reside in New York. It stood to reason that he had returned here to visit her. At least that was what they hoped, because she was their only lead at the moment.

Chloe looked around, spotting the door leading down from roof. "Right. Let's find your lost souls."


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe knocked on the door to the apartment, and waited. Lucifer was his usual impatient self next to her, arms crossed in front of his chest. Chloe waited some more, ignoring Lucifer, who had started shifting his weight from foot to foot impatiently, glaring at the door. She knocked a second time, a tad more forcefully, but there was still no reaction from inside.

She checked the time on her phone. Harrison's daughter could very well be at work, or off somewhere doing God knew what. Chloe didn't have any jurisdiction here, and even if she had, she didn't have a warrant. They would just have to wait.

Lucifer tried the door handle, and Chloe glared at him, out of habit, mostly. "Don't say it's unlocked," she warned him.

He grinned. "It's not, but with a little help-" She put her hand on his on the handle, stopping him. "Leave it. There is nothing to be gained by us breaking in here. We need to talk to her anyway."

He nodded, gently drawing his hand back from under hers. He looked around. "Do you want to wait in this hallway?" It was quite narrow, and could definitely do with some cleaning. Chloe didn't see herself spending several hours here. She shook her head.

"What then? We don't have a car to do a proper stake-out," he said, and Chloe was hit with a sudden, and completely unexpected, wave of nostalgia at the thought of never getting to do another stake-out with Lucifer.

"How about I treat you to an early dinner?", she suggested casually.

He cocked his head to the side, regarding her with an expression that was difficult to read, he looked somehow pleased yet apprehensive at the same time. "I don't think that's a good idea," he replied cautiously.

After their emotional exchange the other day, they had stayed clear of talking about their feelings, or actually anything that wasn't related to solving the mystery of the runaway souls. Chloe felt like she had somehow broken an unspoken agreement by inviting him to eat something with her, but, realistically speaking, they would have to get food at some point. And it would be rather silly to do it separately. Friends had food together all the time, right? It didn't have to be romantic. They could just eat like two adults, who were nothing more than friends. Which is what they were.

Either of them had yet to address what had happened between them when he left, and what it meant for them. Chloe was certain that there was only misery and heartbreak down that road. He would have to go back to hell eventually. Better to just stay friends. She was starting to have second thoughts about inviting him to dinner. Maybe it would have been a better idea to just look for some food stand in the street. No way that could be construed as romantic. The silence between them was starting to get awkward.

"You're right, sorry. We don't have to go if you don't want to." Chloe cringed. She hadn't meant to sound quite so hurt. Lucifer must have picked up on it as well, because he looked chagrined. He shook his head.

"No, I am sorry, detective. Let's have dinner." He gave her a bright smile that didn't reach his eyes. She could easily tell from his tone and posture that he was still apprehensive, nervous even, but making an effort to pretend everything was normal. Maybe this whole thing had been a bad idea. Maybe they just weren't as good at pretending as they used to be.

Well, it had been her idea, she could hardly turn him down now. She nodded, feeling silly for being nervous about dinner with Lucifer when it wasn't even a date. They ate together all the time. Well, had eaten together all the time, before he went back to hell.

* * *

They found a small place nearby that couldn't really be called a restaurant. It would be more accurately described as a takeaway counter that happened to put up a couple of plastic chairs and a few tiny tables. But at least it seemed reasonably clean, and the dishes looked edible.

They ordered, sat down, and waited for their food in an awkward silence. Chloe desperately wanted to start up a conversation but her mind came up blank. Why was this suddenly so hard? In spite of all their differences, the two of them had always been able to share easy conversation, and make each other laugh. Now everything seemed to be wrought with tension.

"Tell me about hell," she said, surprising them both. She had just grabbed at the first thing that popped into her mind. Lucifer gave her a questioning look.

"I just thought if I knew more about it, it could help me to track them down. You know, understand better where they've been, what motivates them. It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. I guess you can't just go around spilling the beans about the afterlife to any random mortal."

He frowned. "You're hardly a random mortal, detective."

"You know what I mean."

He was silent for a moment, considering. "I suppose it would be helpful in tracking them down. But you have to give me your word that you won't talk about this to another living soul."

Chloe chuckled. "Says the guy who has been telling people he's the devil for years."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Well, for one, as you are very well aware, nobody ever believes that I really am the devil." The waitress choose that moment to bring their burgers. She regarded Lucifer suspiciously, looking him up and down. Then she shook her head, walking off.

Silence settled over them again as they dug into their food. It wasn't quite as uncomfortable as before. Lucifer was the first to speak again, his tone somber and thoughtful.

"Every soul creates their own room, their own version of hell. For most of them, it is an eternal repetition of the event in their life that they regret the most. They spend eternity trapped in a never-ending cycle of regret, guilt and self-loathing."

"That sounds horrifying."

He chuckled. "That is rather the point."

"You have a little-" Without thinking, she reached forward and brushed the little bit of sauce from the corner of his mouth. Shit. Her eyes widened in shock, and she froze, her thumb still on his face. She stared at it, then her eyes moved up, meeting his. He stared back at her, his expression unreadable.

Chloe quickly drew her hand back, clearing her throat. She spend about 30 seconds looking anywhere but at Lucifer, then she shook her head. "This is ridiculous," she stated. Lucifer leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest defensively.

"Detective, I told you several times, if you don't want to do this-"

Chloe lifted her hand, stopping him. "That's not what I meant." She rubbed her hand over her eyes tiredly. "We need to talk about-" She gestured from him to her and back. "-this. Us. Not talking about it is clearly not working."

Lucifer remained silent, his posture defensive. Chloe sighed. Fuck it, she thought.

"I love you," she stated calmly, watching his eyes widen in surprise. That was clearly not what he had expected to hear. To be fair, it wasn't what she had expected to say, either. Yet, it was amazing how easily the words tumbled out of her mouth. There was no doubt in her mind that they were true. It felt good to say them again.

Lucifer just stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"I love you," she repeated for good measure, enjoying very much how the confused look on his face transformed into a hesitant smile. "I know we tried not to talk about it, and just solve this case as if everything were still like it used to be, but I'm having a hard time ignoring what happened, and it's become a little distracting." There. Full disclosure.

Lucifer uncrossed his arms, drawing his hands through his hair in an uncharacteristically helpless gesture. "If we are being honest, I have to admit to being distracted in a similar fashion."

Chloe nodded, glad that they were finally talking about this, yet unsure how to go on from here. At the end of the day, they wouldn't solve anything by talking. He would have to leave again, and that was a fact that no amount of honest communication would change. Maybe they just couldn't work together anymore. The thought caused a tight, almost painful sensation in her chest.

"What if we-" She paused, carefully reconsidering what she had been about to say. The idea had just crossed her mind, and it was utterly insane. Probably best to bury it somewhere in a dark corner of her mind and never reexamine it again. Apparently, her mouth had other ideas. "-what if we move forward," she finished the thought, already convinced it was a terrible idea the second the words were out of her mouth.

Lucifer frowned. "What do you mean?"

Chloe took a deep breath. "I mean this might be-" She paused again, a lump suddenly forming in her throat. "-might be the only time we'll have together, and maybe we should just- I don't know, just go with it. Just make the most of it. Just be ourselves and not overanalyse every little thing we do."

Lucifer stared at her, his frown deepening. "You want us to be -together?" He somehow managed to sound confused, delighted, and terrified at the same time.

Chloe shook her head. "You're right, it's a terrible idea, forget I ever said anything."

If possible, his frown deepened even further. "You don't want us to be together?" Now he definitely sounded hurt.

Chloe lifted her arms up in defeat. Whatever she did, things just seemed to get worse and worse. "It doesn't matter what I want, does it? You are going back to hell no matter what." She sighed. She hadn't meant to sound quite so bitter and accusatory. Neither of them was any good at talking about their feelings, and it seemed they were slowly but steadily steering towards disaster.

"I can assure you, detective, if it were up to me that's not where I would be. Or who I would be with."

Chloe rubbed her hand over her eyes. "Maybe this was a bad idea. We clearly can't work together as easily as we used to anymore. Maybe you should ask Maze for help after all." There, she'd said it. She had avoided meeting his eyes while she spoke. Now she looked up just in time to see a flash of panic cross his features, before he managed to compose his expression again.

"If you think that's for the best," he said, voice cold.

Tears were suddenly pricking at the corners of her eyes, threatening to fall. She took a deep breath, trying to keep them at bay. This was not how she wanted to leave things with Lucifer. "I don't know, Lucifer. I don't know what we should do. I don't know what's best. I just-" She sniffled, and finally the tears started falling.

From one moment to the other, his expression changed completely, the cold mask falling away, replaced by something much softer. She saw him lift his hand, possibly to offer some comfort, maybe wipe the tears from her eyes. She didn't know, because he aborted the gesture, crossing his arms again instead, as if to keep himself from reaching out to her.

Chloe took another deep breath, trying to regain her composure. She didn't want to go back to L.A. alone. She didn't want him to work this case with Maze instead of her. She wanted to spend time with him, to have a last case together, like old times. But there was no point if they were going to be like this, too caught up in things they couldn't have to enjoy their time together.

Chloe felt the tears welling up again. "I'm sorry, I need some fresh air," she croaked, already half-way out of her chair. She all but fled from the tiny restaurant, coming to a halt out on the sidewalk. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, letting the tears fall freely. She should have known better than to agree to this. It had just been so tempting to get a chance to spend time with Lucifer again that she had ignored the tiny voice in the back of her mind that had warned her about the impeding heartbreak.

Lucifer came to stand next to her. He remained quiet by her side for a moment, his presence somehow reassuring even though he was the reason she was upset in the first place. Then he turned towards her, and before she even realised that she had started moving, she was in his arms, her head against his chest, her arms around him. After a second, he returned the embrace, his head coming to rest on top of hers.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this," he said honestly, voice thick with emotion. "The last thing I ever wanted to do is hurt you, detective."

"I know," she replied, and they remained silent after that, standing motionless in the sea of people going about their day around them.


	7. Chapter 7

Somebody loudly cleared their throat next to them. Chloe blinked a couple of times, then slowly removed her arms from around Lucifer, stepping back out of the embrace.

"You don't have to finish your food, but I would appreciate if you paid," the owner of the tiny restaurant said calmly. Chloe would have expected him to be angry, but he sounded bored more than anything.

"Yes, of course, sorry," Chloe said. The owner shook his head and sighed, as if he couldn't be bothered with having to deal with their nonsense, and walked back inside.

Lucifer started going in after him, but Chloe put a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "I said I'm treating you to dinner this time."

He smiled, lifting his hand in an after you gesture.

Chloe took care of the bill, which wasn't that expensive anyway. Once back outside, their eyes met briefly, but both of them looked away again quickly. In spite of their conversation, they hadn't actually resolved anything. Chloe sighed. Just focus on the case, she told herself.

They started walking back in the direction of the apartment, neither of them speaking. Chloe tried not to think too much about what had just happened. She'd focus on the case from now on. Everything else would just make matters worse.

Keeping Lucifer out of her thoughts was proving harder than expected. Especially with him walking along beside her, close enpugh to touch. Thankfully the walk wasn't that long. She spotted an empty bench from where they would have a good view of the entrance of the apartment building.

Lucifer sat down next to her, the eerie silence still heavy in the air between them. Chloe cleared her throat and took out her phone, switching from app to app aimlessly. She tried her best to keep her mind occupied, so she didn't make the mistake of thinking about Lucifer again. Even though he sat completely still, she was very aware of his presence beside her.

He had sat down close, their legs almost touching, even though there would have been plenty of space on the bench for him to sit further away. Chloe had trouble stopping her mind from focusing on the fact that all she needed to do was reach out, and he would be there. He had been so far out of her reach in hell that he might as well have been dead, and now he was right there.

Lucifer shifted, their legs touching briefly, and the simple contact was enough to distract her completely from what she'd been doing, and bring her focus entirely back to Lucifer. She made a resigned sigh and put the phone away.

Her mind kept circling back to what she'd proposed to him in the restaurant. It was an insane idea. It would just make things that much worse once he had to leave again. But for some reason she just couldn't let go of it. Wouldn't it be better to have this time together rather than having no time at all?

After all, nobody ever knew for certain how much time they had. Why not make the most of it? She chanced a glance at Lucifer, then quickly looked straight ahead once more. And what if he didn't have to stay in hell all the time anyway? His presence here, right now, was proof that he could leave for some measure of time without things falling apart immediately. Was it really so presumptuous to think he might be able to visit once in a while, even after they closed this case?

She shook her head, trying to chase away her fantasies. What was she thinking? A long distance relationship was always a bad idea. And surely nobody had ever tried quite such a long distance before. What if she ended up resenting him for never being there, against her better intentions?

Lucifer tapped her lightly on the shoulder, drawing her out of her thoughts. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he nodded towards the entrance of the building. She had been so caught up in her thoughts, she had almost missed their target. Chloe barely saw the woman fitting the description of Harrison's daughter before she vanished into the building.

Lucifer moved to get up, but she placed her hand on his arm, stopping him. "Give her a minute to arrive. We want her to be comfortable. Remember, this is not an interrogation. We want her help, so try playing nice for once."

"I always play nice," he said playfully, giving her a bright, toothy smile. Chloe rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop smiling in return. This felt more naturally, more like old times.

"How about you just let me do the talking?"

"Or, alternatively, why don't you just let me use my devilish charms and we'll have all the information we need in no time?"

Chloe felt immediately uncomfortable at the thought, which was silly. First of all, they were not together, and it wasn't like she had any claim to him. And secondly, she'd seen him use his allure to advance their cases many times in the past, and it had never bothered her before. So why was the idea of seeing him flirt with another woman suddenly so appalling?

"Let me do the talking and we'll keep your charms as a back-up plan."

They waited a couple more minutes in a slightly less uncomfortable silence than before.

"Let's go," she said finally, getting up, not waiting for his reaction, just assuming that he would follow her lead, as he always did. It was strange how finding out he was the devil and seeing his true form hadn't affected their dynamic at all in that regard. The king of hell still followed her lead as if she were somehow a higher authority.

They rang the bell for apartment 59b, Jennifer Harrison, and the door buzzed open after a minute. The old building didn't have an intercom, which was to their advantage. It would be much easier to ask her for help in person than having to make their case without being able to show off her badge.

The elevator looked like it was going to break down any minute now, so they took the stairs, just like they'd done on their way down the first time. They arrived at the door to the apartment slightly out of breath. Well, Chloe was out of breath. Lucifer's supernatural constitution seemed unaffected by a few flights of stairs. One of these days she would have to ask him all about that. How strong he really was. What other things he could do. Well, if there ever was one of those days after this was over.

Chloe knocked on the door, and waited. It opened quickly, but only a fraction, two small metal chains still locked in place, keeping them from entering.

"Yes?" The woman on the inside said, sounding annoyed.

"My name is Chloe Decker, I'm a detective with the L.A.P.D. and this is Mr. Morningstar, he's one of our consultants. Might we take a couple of minutes of your time to ask some questions?"

Chloe held up her badge as she spoke, then moved to stow it away. "Can I see that?" The woman said, reaching for her badge through the crack in the door. Chloe let her have it. They waited for almost a minute while the young woman inspected it. Then the door closed in their faces, and they heard the sound of the metal chains being removed.

The door opened again, and she handed the badge back, seeming much more friendly now. "Sorry about that. You can't be too careful nowadays. All kind of weird people around in this city."

"Quite right, you wouldn't want to accidentally let the devil into your home," Lucifer said brightly, and Chloe turned to the side to glare at him.

The woman frowned at his comment, but still stepped aside to let them enter the apartment. It was quite small, and had a homey yet organized feel, as if every single item in it had been selected with great care.

She indicated for them to sit down on the couch, which they did. It was a tiny couch, barely fitting the two of them, meaning they had to sit close together, legs and elbows touching. Chloe blocked the sensation from her mind, instead focusing on the woman, giving her a friendly smile. She sat down across from them in a big lounge chair.

"Can I offer you anything? I just made some fresh lemonade," the woman said suddenly, standing up again.

Chloe motioned for her to sit down. "No, that's fine, we just-"

"Lemonade would be great," Lucifer said enthusiastically. Chloe turned to him once more, bestowing another glare on him. She should have known he would have issues with not talking.

The woman left, returning with three huge glasses filled to the brim. She placed them on the table and sat down again.

"So, which one of my friends is in trouble? What do you want to know?" She asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"Are you Jennifer Harrison, daughter of Peter Harrison?"

She leaned back in her chair, looking a bit more wary now. "Is he in trouble with the law?"

"We just want to find him and ask him some questions about his disappearance. Has he contacted you at all since his return?"

She nodded, seeming quite tense now.

"Do you remember what he told you? Any little clue might help us to track him down."

Jennifer was silent for a moment, deep in thought. When she finally started speaking, there was barely suppressed anger in her voice. "I don't know what he was thinking, showing up like that. He didn't bother to be involved in my life for the past 22 years, letting me believe he was dead."

She took a deep breath. "He didn't even come out of hiding when mom died. He was never there when I needed him. He was never a father to me." She paused, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rant at you like that."

Lucifer waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Believe me, I can relate. My father was never there when I needed him either. Quite the opposite, in fact. It can be a tad infuriating."

Jennifer gave him a grateful smile. Chloe turned her head again, regarding Lucifer. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a falling out with God. To have lived in heaven and then be banned from there for eternity. She shook her head slightly, focusing her attention back on Jennifer.

"I realize that this might bring up some unpleasant emotions for you. We understand completely if you don't want to answer, but it really is of vital importance that we find your father, and any hint where he might be would be very much appreciated. Do you remember anything he told you?"

She nodded, sniffling a little. "I remember everything. At first, I didn't believe him. Of course, mom had shown me pictures, but he looked different, aged, but not two decades, you know, and I just couldn't accept it at first. But then he told me some of the stories my mother had told me about him, and then I knew it really was him."

Jennifer paused, taking a sip from her glass. She seemed a bit more collected now. "And you know what else he told me? The bastard had the audacity of trying to give me life advice! After abandoning his family for more than two decades! I mean, can you believe the gall?"

Chloe frowned. "What kind of advice?"

"Oh, he was all like 'you have to make sure to live a good life' and 'don't do anything you'll regret' and bullshit like that. As if he had any right to tell me how to live after what he did."

"Did he tell you why he wanted you to live a good life?" Chloe asked.

Jennifer scoffed. "Yeah, he made up this tale about spending the last 22 years in hell, conveniently excusing why he vanished from our lives. He said he wanted to make sure I go to heaven, where I belong, and don't end up like him. He sounded concerned, but I'm sure that was all part of his act. I was surprised when he left again without asking me for money or something after he spun that tale."

"Do you think he will come back here?" Lucifer asked.

Jennifer shook her head. "I told him I never want to see him again. He seemed to get the message."

Lucifer groaned. "Fantastic," he complained. Chloe ignored him. "Do you know if there is anybody else he cares about? Maybe good friends of his that your mother told you about? Places in New York he visited frequently back in the day?"

"Well, I was just a toddler when he 'died'-," she made little air quotes with her fingers while saying the word, "-but mom told me a lot of stories about him when I was a teenager. She made him seem like some sort of hero. I'm glad she never had to find out that he faked his death. It would have destroyed her."

Jennifer cleared her throat, and grabbed a tissue, dabbing at her eyes. "There is this one story mom liked to tell. I'd almost forgotten all about it, but then he told it to me when he was trying to proof his identity, and all the details came back. One day, he was hanging out with his two best buddies at their favorite pub, called the Old Bell or something like that, and this twitchy guy walks in, looking horrible, probably a junkie, and he suddenly pulls a gun on the owner, demanding cash. Long story short, my father and his buddy Bob take him down and save the day."

"Do you have any more information that could help us to track this man down? His last name? What he looks like? Any identifying features like a visible scar or a tattoo?"

Jennifer shook her head. "I don't think anybody ever mentioned his last name to me. My mother used to describe everything in great detail, but that was a long time ago, and I only remember that he was a really tall, broad-shouldered dude. 'A mountain of a man', I think she used to say.

Chloe nodded, getting out her notepad and taking down bullet points of what she'd told them so far. "And the name of the pub? Are you certain it was called the Old Bell?"

Jennifer frowned, thinking about it for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure. It was certainly something with Bell. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

Chloe closed her notepad, smiling at her. "You have been very helpful. Thank you for your time. Do you mind if I give you my number so you can call me if you remember anything else or in case your father makes a reappearance?"

"Sure."

Jennifer saved Chloe's number to her phone, then accompanied them to the door, which, given the size of the apartment, was really only a couple of steps away. But when they turned to leave she called them back.

"Wait." Both of them turned around again. "Do you think- do you think it's at all possible that he might have been telling the truth?" She asked hesitantly, sounding like she couldn't quite believe she was actually asking such a stupid question.

Lucifer stepped forward, looking her straight in the eye. "Everything's possible," he stated honestly.

Jennifer nodded thoughtfully, and after a moment of silence, the two of them turned around again and left.

Once outside, Chloe sat down on the same bench they had occupied before, and Lucifer followed suit.

"What do you make of her story?" She asked after a moment.

"It seems Pete is out there trying to save people from the same fate as him."

Chloe nodded. "He wants to do good, it seems. Do you think he's really trying to save her, or is this just to find redemption and prevent his own return to hell?"

Lucifer shook his head. "No way to know for sure."

"Why did he go to hell in the first place?"

"Don't know. Never tortured him personally. "

Chloe felt a sudden tight sensation in her chest at the thought of Lucifer torturing souls in hell. It was a topic she avoided thinking about.

"It's just that from what I've heard so far, he doesn't seem like such a bad guy. I wonder what happened to him."

Lucifer hummed. "I suppose I can always check his room. It should be stuck at the beginning of his loop. It might give us a clue as to the nature of his downfall. Maybe he just started hanging out with the wrong people. Sometimes all it takes is asking the wrong questions." His voice turned bitter towards the end.

"People go to hell for asking the wrong questions?" Chloe asked, shocked.

"Not literally," Lucifer admitted. "Most times it's what comes after asking the questions that gets you in trouble. Especially if you didn't like the answers you got."

Chloe wasn't sure if they were still talking about their target. She decided to leave it alone, and looked at her notepad instead, trying to figure out what kind of person Peter Harrison was. Somehow all the pieces didn't quite fit together. "Do you have a recording of the interview he gave? I would like to know what he said there, exactly."

Lucifer shook his head. "I'll ask Ella if she can dig it up for us," Chloe said, already taking out her phone to text her friend.

"So what next?" Lucifer asked.

"We try to find the pub on the off chance that somebody remembers a thwarted robbery from over two decades ago, and can give us more details. Or the just as unlikely possibility that some of his former buddies are still regulars there to this day. It's a plausible assumption that he might try to find them, and tell them the same story. Finding other people he cares about is our best shot at tracking him down."

Lucifer nodded, standing up.

Chloe remained seated for a moment longer. Something just didn't add up.

"Lucifer? Do we have to take him back no matter what? What if it turns out that he doesn't plan to harm anybody, and is really just trying to save others from the same fate as him? Do we really have to drag him back to hell then?"

"It is not for me to decide the fate of human souls. I am merely the gatekeeper," he said, voice much colder than only moments before.

Chloe nodded, deciding not to press the point for the time being. First, they needed to track him down and figure out once and for all what he was really up to.


	8. Chapter 8

They found two possible candidates for Harrison's old hangout within reasonable distance of his former residence. One was called _The Old Bell Tower_, the other was, ironically enough, named _Hell's Bells_. Chloe argued that the first was much more likely to be the establishment they were looking for, while Lucifer pointed out that one should never underestimate the power of irony.

They ended up paying _The Old Bell Tower_ a visit first.

It had the look and feel of a typical Irish pub. By the time they arrived there, it was early evening, but the pub was practically deserted, only two patrons sitting at the bar. The barkeep was standing off to the side, looking bored, checking something on his phone. He didn't pay them any attention when they walked in.

Above the bar was a long row of old, yellowed pictures, showing the pub's customers over the decades. Chloe inspected them carefully, not really expecting to get so lucky as to find a picture of their target with his former drinking buddies. Her perusal of the pictures was interrupted by the barkeep remembering what he was being paid for.

"What can I get you two?" He asked, looking at them with an expression of utter boredom.

"I'm in the mood for something sweet. How about a fruity cider?" Lucifer said, smiling brightly. Chloe gave him a look that was meant to convey _what the hell are you doing we're working_, when she remembered that, technically, they weren't working. At the very least, they were not bound by police regulations.

The barkeep reached under the bar and produced a bottle. He inspected the label. "Mango-Raspberry-Pear Cider?", he asked, sounding like he wasn't entirely convinced that anybody should be drinking something like that.

"Delightful," Lucifer said, giving him a toothy smile. "Two, please."

The barkeep shrugged, then produced a second bottle and placed both on the table. He removed the caps, and placed two large glasses next to the bottles.

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?" Chloe said, showing off her badge. That seemed to finally bring him out of his lethargy. He inspected the badge, looking in between the two of them, a grin spreading on his face.

"You two are cops? You need information for an investigation? What is it? Drugs? Homicide?" He seemed extremely pleased at the prospect of being interviewed by the police.

"We just need your help tracking somebody down." Chloe took out a printout of an old picture of Harrison they had found online. It was about a quarter of a century out of date, but according to Lucifer, his appearance shouldn't have changed all that much after he died.

The barkeep took it and studied it carefully. His face lit up when he realized that he actually had something to contribute to their investigation. "I know him! He came in a couple of days ago. He was asking for some people I'd never seen before, saying they were regulars here ages ago. I told him I've only been working here for about a month, and only the odd shift here and there, so maybe I just hadn't met them yet."

Lucifer slumped on the bar stool, taking a long pull of cider straight from the bottle. He put it down forcefully, sighing. "Great, another dead end."

The barkeep was still smiling. "He left his contact information in case his friends ever came back." He turned around, searching through a pile of crumpled up pieces of paper and other miscellaneous items. "Here," he said, beaming at them, while handing Chloe a cardboard coaster.

Chloe turned it over. It had a hotel name, a room number and a phone number scribbled on it. She blinked. Could things really be this easy for once?

Lucifer grabbed it out of her hand, inspecting it, a smile slowly spreading over his face. "Got you!" He exclaimed.

Chloe glared at the coaster, still feeling like all of this was wrong somehow. Lucifer immediately picked up on it. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, frowning. "We only managed to find him because he wanted to help his friends. It doesn't seem right to send him back."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you what the road to hell is paved with, detective."

"Send him back? Where? Is he an illegal immigrant?" The barkeep piped up, suddenly sounding much less enthusiastic.

"Of sorts," Lucifer replied, picking up the bottle and taking another sip. "This is good stuff," he stated, getting out a couple of dollar notes from his back pocket. He put them on the bar, enough to cover both drinks and a more than generous tip. In fact, it was so much, it could hardly be called just a tip. The barkeep frowned, looking like he was doubting if he had done the right thing. Chloe could certainly relate.

"Come on, we almost got him," Lucifer said impatiently, holding the coaster up with a smile, then he hurried out the door, clearly expecting her to follow. Chloe sighed, then walked out after him slowly.

The barkeep stared at the cash in front of him. He'd wanted to help the police with an investigation, but now he felt more like he'd taken a bribe. After a moment, he shrugged and pocketed the money.

* * *

They had a short debate over how to handle the capture. Lucifer was in favor of kicking down the door to the hotel room, and, should Harrison not be there, simply wait for him. Possibly with the lights off, for maximum dramatic effect when he returned. Chloe argued that they would likely get kicked out by the property owner with an approach like that. In the end, Lucifer conceded to a good old-fashioned stake-out.

Which is why they were currently sitting in a rental car in a dark alley.

"You really couldn't have rented something a little less noticeable?" Chloe complained, looking around. They were in an expensive, comfortable car with smooth leather seats. It was exactly the type of car that wouldn't be parked in a dark, dirty alley full of questionable-looking establishments. Harrison had clearly been short on cash, the hotel he was presumably staying at looked like it could be taken down by a strong wind any moment. Or possibly somebody with a bad cough. The whole neighborhood had a very run-down look to it.

"Come now, detective, there really is no need for us to be uncomfortable while we wait." Lucifer reached over and opened the glove department, producing a small bag. He opened it, and presented her with a massive bear claw. He held it out to her, a small smile on his face.

"Best in town. Or so I'm told."

Chloe hesitated for a moment. For a split second, she had this image in her mind of her taking a bite out of the pastry while he was still holding it. She shook off the weird thought and took the pastry from him with a grateful smile.

"When did you even have time to get this? You were only in the rental store for a couple of minutes."

"Oh, I asked for a few _upgrades_ on the car. I choose that store because I happened to know the owner, and he just so happened to still owe me a favor. Since it doesn't look like I'll be back in his life time, I thought I'd collect."

Chloe cleared her throat, suddenly feeling uneasy. "So, once this is done, and we've tracked down all your runaways, you don't plan to be back on earth for quite some time?" She had meant to sound casual, but her voice betrayed her anxiety.

Lucifer didn't say anything for some time, staring out the windshield at the entrance of the shabby hotel they were surveilling.

When he finally spoke, his voice was grave, a stark contrast to his usual jovial self. He somehow sounded much older than just a moment ago.

"I have been negligent in my responsibilities for a long time. I thought nothing of it. It seemed that hell could just run itself, but now I see that it was just wishful thinking on my part. The demons need a king, hell needs a ruler. The souls in hell are my responsibility, and I do not intent to shy away from my obligations any longer. I'm sorry."

"But couldn't you just visit once in a while? You were away for years before, surely a weekend on earth wouldn't hurt anybody?"

Lucifer tensed, flexing the fingers of his right hand into a fist, then spreading them out again, repeating the short, agitated movement over and over.

"I don't believe that would be a good idea, detective," he replied hesitantly.

"But why?" Chloe didn't want to push him, but she needed to know what was holding him back.

He finally turned to look at her. "Because I'm weak."

Chloe frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lucifer just shook his head, breaking eye contact again, a pained expression crossing his features. He was silent for a long moment, then he suddenly nodded towards the windshield. "Look," he said.

Chloe followed his gaze, just in time to see somebody vanishing inside the hotel. She raised her eyebrows at Lucifer.

"I'm pretty sure it was him. Let's go find out how he escaped." Lucifer opened the car door, stepping out. "And take him back where he belongs," he added, almost like an afterthought.

Chloe stepped out of the car as well, still puzzling over what Lucifer could have meant.


	9. Chapter 9

They stood in front of the room with the big 12 on the door, the same number Harrison had scribbled down on the coaster.

Lucifer hesitated, then slowly knocked on the door three times. After a short moment of waiting, the door opened. The man standing in the door frame looked a bit more worn, a bit more melancholic, than the man in their reference picture, but it was without a doubt Peter Harrison.

Lucifer gave him what Chloe liked to refer to as his predatory smile.

"Hello," he drawled, clearly pleased with finally having tracked the man down.

Harrison stared up at Lucifer for a long moment. Chloe watched the expression on his face shift from expectant to worried to terrified. Lucifer just continued grinning at him. All of a sudden, Harrison tried to close the door in their faces, but Lucifer put his foot inside and pushed it open again. Not that a closed door would have been much of a challenge for him.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat guests? Especially after departing so rudely, without so much as a goodbye." Lucifer entered the room as he spoke, while Harrison stumbled away from him. He collided with the edge of the bed while moving backwards, and half-sat, half-fell down on the bed. He lifted his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Please. I can't go back yet," he pleaded, focused solely on Lucifer, who was still advancing slowly, towering above him.

Lucifer sighed dramatically. "There is really no need to beg. It's not up to me."

Chloe stopped a bit behind Lucifer, not crowding into Harrison's personal space. "Why can't you go back?", she asked.

Harrison's head turned to her and he frowned, as if he was noticing her presence for the first time. "I'm not done here."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed, looking at Harrison with suspicion. "Done with what?"

"I have to help more people. Make them understand that heaven and hell are real. That their actions have consequences. That things can turn out horribly if they make the wrong choices. And, if they are already going down the wrong path, to help them face their guilt before it is too late."

"You can't go back to hell-," Chloe paused, sitting down next to him on the bed, "-because you want to help more people?"

Harrison nodded, his eyes flitting back and forth between her and Lucifer. "Who are you?" he asked.

Lucifer crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I would have thought that was quite obv-"

"Not you," Harrison interrupted him. "I know very well who you are and why you are here. I was asking the lady."

Chloe cleared her throat, wondering how best to describe her role in all of this. Before she managed to come up with an explanation, Lucifer jumped in. "She's a consultant. Now, enough with the introductions. If anybody is asking the questions here, it's me. Starting with, how did you leave your room?"

Harrison frowned. "Hell has consultants?"

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "How did you leave your room?" he repeated, his voice taking on a menacing tone.

Harrison vaguely pointed in the direction of the door. "Usually I just walk out."

Lucifer leaned down until their faces were almost at the same level. His eyes started to glow with an inner fire. In spite of his seemingly unimpressed attitude only a moment before, Harrison leaned backwards, away from him.

"You will show me respect, mortal." Lucifer's voice was suddenly much deeper, much more commanding. "You will answer my questions, correctly, in detail, and without this attitude, or I will show you that whatever hell loop you've experienced pales in comparison to my-"

He stopped, looking down at where Chloe had placed a hand on his stomach. She stood up, pushing him backwards slightly. He didn't resist. "I don't think this is the right approach," she said very quietly, the words meant for his ears only. "Can you let me try to talk to him?"

She thought for a moment that he was going to refuse, but then he made a short nod, lifting his hand in an _after you_ gesture.

Chloe sat down next to Harrison on the bed once more. He looked from her to Lucifer and back again, a puzzled frown appearing on his face.

"How about we start over? My name is Chloe Decker, I'm a homicide detective with the LAPD. I know you've gone through a lot, and talking about it can be painful, but I would really like to know what happened to you."

Harrison leaned forward slightly, shaking his head. "I wouldn't even know where to start."

"How about you start with how you ended up in hell in the first place?"

Harrison nodded slowly, sitting up straight again. He stared at his hands as he spoke, not daring to face either one of them. "I have this friend. His name is Frank. We're actually more like brothers. Well, closer than most brothers, I guess. He's a good guy, you know? His heart is in the right place. People could always count on him when they needed help. But sometimes he'd have these episodes where he'd just do the stupidest shit, and call me to bail him out."

He paused, nervously wringing his hands in his lap, looking straight ahead as if he could somehow see into the past while telling his story. "One day, he calls me and I can already hear over the phone that he really messed up this time. He's upset, crying, saying I have to come help him, make things right again. I get to his place as quickly as I can, and it's a mess. There's this woman on his bed, and she's not moving. I try to look for a pulse, but she's already cold. Between sobs, Frank tells me that he convinced her to try out this new drug, and when they fell asleep, she was fine, and now she's dead, and he's going to go to jail, because he's already on probation."

Harrison took a deep breath, steadying himself. "And every time I reach this point, I try to do things differently. I imagine myself telling him that we have to call the police, that there is no other way, that we have to do things right. And every time, I end up getting rid of the body with him instead. Over, and over, and over again."

He finally turned to face Chloe, and she saw that there were tears in his eyes. "The first thing I did when I came back was to call the police and tell them where to find the body. It was 22 years too late, but her family will finally know what happened. You have to help me find Frank. He has to know that he needs to face up to what he did or there will be terrible consequences. I tried to track him down, but he doesn't live at the same address anymore, and he doesn't go to our old hangouts any longer. Please. Help me help him."

"How did you escape hell?" Chloe asked.

Harrison chuckled, but the sound was devoid of any merriment. "I told you the truth. I walked out. I was busy wallowing in my guilt, reliving that day over and over again, always making the same wrong choice. And then, out of nowhere, this guy shows up, and he just won't stop talking to me. He tells me none of this is real, I'm trapped in a hell loop. He tells me it is imperative that I learn how to forgive myself, so I can help others like me. I didn't pay any attention to him at first. But then the loop starts over and he's still there, and he just keeps on talking. I don't know for how long this went on, but he just didn't give up on me. Finally, I get it in my head that I have to stop thinking about how I screwed up, and instead focus on trying to be better. I start to let the things he says sink in, and the next time we go back to Frank's apartment, I just look him dead in the eye, and tell him that he's not the real Frank. The real Frank is still on earth and needs my help. Then Hell-Frank vanished, and a door appeared."

"The man who came to your aid, what did he look like?" Chloe asked, taking out her notepad.

Harrison shook his head, looking up at Lucifer. "I won't help you find him and stop him. He's helping people."

Chloe was about to ask another question, when she noticed that Lucifer looked considerably paler, staring at Harrison as if he had just had some frightening realization.

"Blond, mid-fifties, about 6 feet tall?" Lucifer asked, voice tense. It was obvious that he dreaded an affirmative answer from Harrison. Chloe looked back to the man next to her, and the shocked look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

Chloe stood up, reaching out to Lucifer. She placed a hand on his arm, but he didn't react, for some reason dismayed at having found the identity of the man that seemed to be the cause of his problems.

"Lucifer? Are you okay? It's a good thing that you know who is behind the disappearances, right?"

Lucifer finally met her eyes, looking deeply unsettled. "I think I caused all of this," he said, voice distraught.


	10. Chapter 10

Chloe frowned. "What do you mean? How did you cause this?"

"I'll explain later. First, I have to go back to hell and confirm my suspicion." Lucifer glanced from her to Harrison on the bed and back, looking worried. "Will you be fine alone with him?"

Chloe gave him a look that had quite an impressive amount of _Bitch, please_ to it. Lucifer nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

* * *

Lucifer stared at the frozen room around him, getting more and more angry at himself. Until this moment, he had still hoped that he might turn out to be wrong, but here was the damning evidence right in front of him. The hospital bed was empty, no trace of the man that should be occupying this particular hell loop. The only other person in the room was the nurse standing next to the bed, frozen in time along with everything else.

Lucifer rubbed his right hand over his eyes, sighing. As it turned out, he once again had only himself to blame for his problems. He tried to recall the details of the conversation that had taken place in this very room. Lucifer had been frustrated and angry at the time, and had foolishly assumed the loop would run its course and erase its occupant's memories.

It had been not so long after his return to hell. He had done all the things that needed doing, not that there was much more to be done than to be present and bark the occasional order at a demon, but his heart hadn't been in it. He had never been overly enthusiastic about the task given to him, but he remembered taking a certain pride in it, back in the day. He used to enjoy punishing those who deserved it. On his return, all he had felt was emptiness.

He had gone about his days, all of them bleeding together into a grey monotony, until one day he had just snapped. He had desperately wished he had Linda to talk to, but that hadn't been an option. And that was how he had ended up in this room.

* * *

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Getty."

Reese blinked a couple of times, looking around dazedly. "What? What happened?"

"Just a little brush with death. You had us worried there for a while."

Reese frowned. He had the strange feeling of having forgotten something vitally important. It was right there in the back of his mind, just out of reach.

"Is my wife here?"

"No. I'm sorry, you haven't had any visitors."

"Well, we have been having some trouble lately. But you know what? Second chance on life. Maybe it's not too late to turn things around."

He smiled and the nurse smiled back. After she left, Reese leaned back, thinking about the best course of action. Should he buy Linda a nice piece of jewelry? No, that was probably too much, she might refuse that. Maybe flowers? He looked up, surprised to see a tall man standing at the end of his bed. Reese had been so deep in thought, he hadn't even heard him enter.

Reese wasn't quite sure what to make of him. First of all, he seemed annoyed to see Reese, which was strange, since he had entered Reese's hospital room. Who had he expected to find here, exactly? Then there was this weird flash of something in his expression that looked almost like regret, which was even stranger, given that Reese had never seen him before in his life. He had a vague recollection of him somewhere in the back of his mind, but when he tried to examine it, his hands started shaking slightly and he pushed it away, focusing on the present.

"Can I help you?" Reese asked, hoping the man would just leave.

"Oh, don't mind me," he said, waving his hand dismissively, "I'm just here to tag along until you get to the interesting part."

He had a British accent and a certain charm to him. Reese knew the type well. Some rich playboy who thought he could do whatever he wanted without having to think about the consequences. Reese disliked him immediately.

"Who the hell are you?" Reese asked, his rising anger shining through in his voice.

The man chuckled to himself as if Reese had made a particularly funny joke. "Who the hell, indeed. Now, get dressed and let's go. I really need to talk to Linda."

Reese's eyes narrowed and he looked at the man with suspicion. "I'm not taking you anywhere. How do you know my wife? Who are you? You're going to answer me this time, or I'm going to call security in here."

The man regarded him for a moment, and Reese thought he saw a look of pity in his eyes, but it vanished quickly, replaced by a smug expression. "For the purpose of this narrative," he sneered, giving him a smile that was all teeth, "I'm the jerk who is having sex with your wife."

"Get out," Reese snapped at him. Who did this gut think he was, coming in here and talking to him like that?

The guy had the audacity to roll his eyes, as if Reese were the one being unreasonable. He was clearly crazy. Maybe one of Linda's patients? Reese felt hot anger at the thought of this man fantasizing about his wife. Reese stood up, walking right into his space. He had meant to look threatening, but the hospital gown was ruining things a little for him.

"Stay the hell away from my wife. I know your type. You just take, and take, and take whatever you want, without thinking about who gets hurt in the process."

Reese had a moment of vertigo when the man moved faster than what he would have thought possible, and suddenly Reese was backed up against the wall, with the guy right up in his face. The smug expression was gone, replaced by cold fury.

"_I_ am the one who gets innocent people hurt? Rich, coming from you. Of course, 'the devil made me do it', right? It's always the same story with you mortals. Everybody else is to blame for your misery, until one day you realize what you've done to yourselves, but by then it's too late because you're already here." He was all but snarling, his face distorted by his anger. "Why do I even bother? Why do I have to be here? Why couldn't you just make the right bloody decision in the first place? What's the point of doing it over and over again until the end of eternity? Are you ever going to learn anything from it? Become a better man? No!"

Reese felt cold dread creep up his spine, something in the man's crazy ramblings resonating with an existential fear buried deep inside him. It was as if he had touched a nerve. Reese felt his hands start to shake again.

"You will run through this loop a million times over and still blame me for all your problems. But guess what? I am not the bad guy here." The man stopped, looking around as if he were just realizing what he was doing. He took a step backwards, frowning. "And guess what? You'll have forgotten all about this little exchange the next time on your eternal merry-go-round." Reese thought he heard the ghost of pity again in his voice. "This is going to be your life for the remainder of eternity."

With that, he stormed out of the room. Reese felt a sudden inexplicable need to follow him, to get the hell out. For no apparent reason, he felt trapped. He took a couple of deep breaths, trying to forget the whole encounter. Linda. He should get some flowers for Linda.

* * *

Reese went about his days, feeling like a puppet drawn along on invisible strings. Sometimes, when he was feeling particularly brave, he tried to break free from making the choices that didn't feel like his own anymore. Just do something completely random, he told himself. But every time, he felt sudden fear threatening to drown him, cold sweat breaking out in his neck, the realization of why his life felt like this creeping closer to the forefront of his mind. And every time he shied away from it, instead opting to walk along the designated path.

He often considered that maybe he had simply gone insane. What a relief that would be, to find out that all of this was a mere delusion, and maybe there was a possibility to be freed from it some day if he managed to get help.

But instead of getting help, he followed the steps laid out for him, until they led him to the serial killer's house. The man who was going to help him take down the devil. He wanted to rejoice at the thought, but for some reason he just felt hollow.

Reese asked him about the comments he had posted, and the man surprised him with his answer.

"I knew this day would come. I'll surrender quietly."

Reese stared at him, letting the words sink in. What if he just called the police? What if he ended it, right here, right now? He thought back to his first conversation with Lucifer that day in the hospital. It had happened a long time ago, but every word Lucifer had said to him that day was forever burned into his memory. He had talked about innocent people getting hurt, about wrong choices.

Reese felt the by now all too familiar dread creeping up on his conscious thought again. He started shaking slightly, his breath coming in short gasps. But instead of pushing it down, he let the knowledge wash over him. This is hell, he thought with surprising clarity. He was in hell. And his presence here wasn't the devil's doing. Reese had done something horrible, and it had brought him here, to be punished for all eternity. He thought admitting to it would result in a full-blown panic attack, but instead he suddenly felt much calmer.

"I'll call somebody to take you in," he told the killer, surprised how easily the words spilled from his mouth. The man nodded, and Reese felt a stir of hope. Maybe it wasn't too late for him after all. Maybe even hell, the most desolate place in human imagination, held a chance for redemption.

The man in front of him vanished. All of a sudden, there was a bright white light coming from inside the house. It shone past the door frame, illuminating everything in a warm bright glow. Reese walked slowly towards it. He took a deep breath, then opened the door, finding himself in a dark, dreary corridor. There were ash flakes flying in the air. I'm in hell, he thought again, a little manically, but somehow the idea didn't hold as much bone-chilling terror as only a moment ago.

Another door stood right in front of him, bathed in the same bright light. It seemed warmer somehow than everything else around him. Reese knew instinctively that it was a door back to earth. A door that would lead him back to everything he had lost. A door back to the real Linda. A door giving him an actual second chance. He took a step forward, but then his gaze fell on the endless grey corridor. Doors, upon doors, upon doors, of men and women just like him, trapped in eternal suffering.

He stepped away from the white door in front of him, walking down the corridor instead. This would be his redemption, he thought. He would help others to free themselves. And if his actions caused a little chaos in hell, maybe resulting in at least a little inconvenience for the devil, well, then that was just an added bonus. Lucifer might not have been the cause of his problems, but that didn't mean Reese had to like him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chloe paced the small hotel room up and down, occasionally throwing a glance in Harrison's direction. She had never been a fan of Lucifer's flair for being all cryptic. There was already so much of his life that she didn't understand. That was why she valued every piece of information he gave her, every insight that helped her to understand him a little better. Now, he had once again vanished without telling her what was going on, and it was grating on her nerves. Chloe glanced over at Harrison on the bed. She didn't expect him to give her any trouble, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"Can I ask you a question?" he piped up suddenly, breaking the silence. Chloe shrugged. It wasn't like she had anything better to do at the moment. Harrison seemed to take it as agreement. "Why are you with him?"

Chloe opened her mouth to protest the _with him_, or at the very least tell him that it was none of his business.

"You don't know the first thing about him," she said instead, surprised at the protectiveness in her voice.

Harrison nodded. "But you do, don't you? So tell me, what's the devil really like? Please don't tell me he's just a poor misunderstood soul."

His sarcastic tone told her that he thought the devil had wrapped her around his little finger with some lie about being a good person at heart. Which was an idea Chloe had been struggling with herself not so long ago. But not anymore.

"Do you ever wonder about how God created hell? Because I have been," she told him truthfully, and saw that he was taken aback by her reply. "It wasn't Lucifer who created it. It wasn't Lucifer who decided who deserves to be punished for all eternity. He didn't even choose to be in charge of it."

Chloe paused, staring out the window, deep in thought. "Doesn't that make you wonder what kind of God is in charge of our lives?" She met Harrison's eyes again. "Do you think your crime was worthy of eternal damnation?"

He didn't reply. After a moment he shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. "It must have been, right? There must be some reasoning behind who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, there must be a bigger plan that we don't understand."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. Both of them stayed silent for a long time. "I wish I could believe that," she said finally.

Harrison opened his mouth to reply, but Lucifer choose that moment to burst through the door dramatically. He really had a tendency to do everything he did dramatically. It was actually one of the things Chloe liked about him.

"How did you get back to earth?" he asked Harrison without preamble.

"I already told you-"

Lucifer waved his hand impatiently. "Yes, yes, a door appeared and you were able to leave your room. But how did you get to earth?"

"We stepped out into the corridor and there was another door. It was warm, and bright, and I somehow knew it would lead me back."

"And Reese didn't come with you?"

Harrison frowned. "No, he went on along the corridor. Why?"

Lucifer was silent for a long moment, deep in thought.

"Well?" Chloe inquired when it became clear he wouldn't be forthcoming with any information.

Lucifer held up his index finger in a gesture meaning _I'll be with you in a moment, let me just take care of this one thing first._

"If I let you go, what would you do?" Lucifer asked Harrison.

Harrison frowned again. "Find Frank and talk to him about what he did. What we did. Help him to find some way to atone for it."

Lucifer turned to Chloe. "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

Chloe took a moment to think back to their interactions with Harrison, his body language, his tone of voice. She considered what they had heard from his daughter and the barkeep. Her gut was telling her that he was the real deal, that he was genuine about wanting to help. She gave a short nod in Lucifer's direction.

Lucifer nodded in reply, as if this were the outcome he had already expected. He took a small bundle of cash from his pocket and carelessly threw it next to Harrison on the bed. Harrison stared at it as if he expected it to attack him somehow. "Here's some cash to help you get by. I'm sure the detective can find out his current address for you. I expect you to keep staying at this hotel. If I call you, you will pick up the phone. If I do decide to take you back, you will come quietly and without resistance. Do we have an agreement?"

Harrison stared at him like he'd just heard he'd won the lottery and couldn't quite believe his ears. "Do we have an agreement?" Lucifer repeated a little louder when Harrison failed to react.

Harrison nodded quickly, a hesitant smile starting to spread over his face. "Yes. Yes, of course. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Lucifer waved his hand dismissively. "Don't thank me yet. I might still take you back to hell later."

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Chloe interrupted their exchange, getting more and more annoyed with Lucifer keeping her in the dark.

Lucifer glanced back at Harrison as if assessing whether or not he had made the right decision, then he nodded. "Yes, of course. Let's go."

He walked out of the room, shooting Harrison a warning glare for good measure. Chloe caught up with him outside of the hotel. "Lucifer, talk to me."

He looked around at the shady alleyway they were in. "I think this is going to be a rather long conversation. Let's find somewhere more comfortable."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You really enjoy keeping people in suspense, don't you?"

Lucifer seemed affronted by that. "What an outrageous suggestion." He paused for a beat. "Well, maybe a little bit. But trust me, this is going to take a while."

"Is it bad?" Chloe asked, bracing herself.

Lucifer looked lost for a moment. Then he cocked his head to the side. "Not as such, no," he answered cryptically, then started walking towards their car. Chloe sighed, hoping there would be some answers in her not-so-distant future, rather than more questions.

* * *

Chloe remained silent for the entire car ride, barely managing to hold back all the questions she wanted to throw at Lucifer. He double-parked the car, clearly uncaring that it might get towed. Living in hell had some upsides, like not having to concern oneself with mortal problems like parking tickets.

They got out of the car in silence. Lucifer entered a small park, and Chloe followed close behind. He sat down on a bench with a view of the water. It was quite a serene place, as far as such a thing was possible in New York City.

Chloe sat down next to him and waited. Lucifer was uncharacteristically quiet next her, almost brooding. He waited so long that Chloe was about to prompt him when he finally did start to speak.

"Remember Reese Getty?"

Chloe opened her mouth to tell him that, yes, of course she remembered Linda's ex-husband, they had spent quite some time with him after all. She closed it again without uttering a word as the implication hit her. _Blond, mid-fifties, about 6 feet tall_.

"He is the one who is causing trouble in hell? He's in hell?"

Lucifer nodded, worrying his lower lip. It was a gesture she'd never seen him do before. "He is the one freeing souls, yes. I'm not sure anymore if I would call it 'causing trouble'."

Chloe frowned, feeling like she was missing something important. "What happened?"

Lucifer sighed. "When I returned to hell, I was- things weren't like they used to be. I was having a hard time readjusting to being back permanently. I thought I could go into his room and talk to a version of Linda about what had been bothering me. Instead I spilled the beans to Reese, giving him a chance to figure everything out. If there's one thing he can do, it's figuring things out. I have to admit I had forgotten all about it by the time the disappearances started. I just assumed he would dismiss it, and the loop would run its course. I underestimated him. But I don't think he's really the root of the problem."

"He's not?" Chloe asked, surprised. If he was the one going from room to room, freeing souls, it seemed to her like he was very much the source of Lucifer's problems. Lucifer was silent again, staring out over the water. Chloe remembered something else that had been bothering her. "Why did you let Harrison go? I'm not complaining, I'm completely on board with the decision. I just thought the whole point of this was to, you know, bring them back?"

Lucifer sighed again, rubbing his right hand over his eyes. He seemed older somehow in that moment. He sat up straight, taking a deep breath. "Father was never one for direct instructions. Much like he does with you lot, he just lets us figure out what he might possibly want from us on our own. It's infuriating."

Chloe frowned, wondering where he was going with this. He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Chloe remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

"When I fell, I assumed I knew what he wanted. To punish me for what I had done and to have someone to keep an eye on the mortals in hell. I thought I was there simply because hell needed a king, and I had conveniently fallen into disgrace, so I was best suited for the job."

He finally stopped looking out on the water and met Chloe's eyes. Chloe was taken aback by the expression on his face. It was almost impossible to read due to the myriad of emotions warring with each other. She was sure she saw regret there, but also a certain hopefulness, a sort of yearning, in his eyes.

"What if, all this time, I got it wrong? What if I never truly understood what he wanted me to do?" His voice had taken on a strange edge, somehow excited and panicky, yet at the same time filled with wonder. "What if what Reese is doing is what I should have been doing all along? What if hell is not just meant to punish souls but also to offer them a chance at redemption? When Harrison walked out of his room, a door to earth appeared. As if by design, as if hell had been waiting for him to leave his cell."

He was almost babbling now, the words pouring from him in quick succession. He was wringing his hands, and shifting around restlessly. Chloe leaned forward to put her hands over his, and he stopped moving abruptly, staring down at their hands in his lap.

"What does this mean?" she asked calmly.

Lucifer looked back out over the water, silent once more. Chloe was starting to get whiplash from the quick changes in his mood.

"It means there might be souls who have been suffering for millennia because I failed to understand my role. But that's going to change now. I won't stop Reese. I'm going to help him free more of them. And I will instruct the demons to do the same."

Chloe's mouth fell open as the full realization of what he was saying sank in. "What does this mean for the people who are alive right now? What's going to happen here once hundreds or thousands of people show up, some of them not having a clue how to live in the modern world?"

Lucifer nodded like this was something he had already considered. "We will need to give them a bit of guidance. They need to know that things have changed, but that they have been given a second chance. Maybe some of them won't want to go back to a completely different world. Maybe some of them will choose to do what Reese did."

He suddenly slumped on the bench, looking much less determined than only a moment before. "Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if this is the right thing to do. It feels right. Do you believe somebody like Harrison should be punished for all eternity?"

Chloe had to smile. She had asked almost the same question not even an hour earlier. She shook her head in reply. Chloe was starting to feel a little light-headed, seeing that she had somehow ended up in a discussion about how to change hell for the better. With somebody who could actually do it. Something that went beyond influencing the lives of millions of people. Something that could end their eternal damnation. It was humbling to think about, and she had the distinct feeling that she was in over her head, that maybe somebody else should be sitting here in her place, maybe a philosopher. Certainly some type of scholar, instead of a police detective.

"Do you think this is the right thing to do?" Lucifer asked. She was about to tell him that she really wasn't the right person to ask, but he sounded so lost that she just wanted to reassure him. He was staring at her, the uncertainty written all over his face. He seemed to be completely shaken. She could only imagine what it must be like to suddenly doubt things you held to be true for millennia.

Instead of answering his question, which she honestly had no idea how to do, she lifted her left hand from where it was resting atop of his, and placed it on his face, slowly stroking over the stubble on his cheek with her thumb. He sighed softly, leaning into the touch a little. Both of them leaned forward slowly until their foreheads were touching. Lucifer took a deep shuddering breath and exhaled it slowly.

They remained like this for a long moment, then Chloe leaned back, catching Lucifer's eye. "I trust your instincts. If this feels right to you, then it is the right thing to do."

Lucifer shook his head slightly. "I've made so many mistakes. What if this is just another one? What if this will have some unforeseen consequences? I will pretty much be messing with the foundations of creation."

Chloe was silent for a long time, thinking about her reply. "Then it will be a mistake made believing that humanity deserves a chance at redemption. I have to hope that your father believes in that. If he doesn't, he's really been sending the wrong message."

Lucifer chuckled. "I thought it was rather obvious by now that he isn't a fan of clear messages."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see that."

Both of them were silent again, but is was an easier silence than before. Lucifer seemed much calmer now, his restlessness all but evaporated.

When he finally spoke, he looked out over the water again, talking more to himself than her. "So, I'm really doing this."

"No," Chloe said, and Lucifer's head whipped around to regard her, a frown forming on his features. "We are doing this," she added, smiling. She knew she was in way over her head, and she wasn't sure what, if anything, she could contribute to the overhaul of hell, but she was certainly not going to let Lucifer carry this burden on his own.

The slow smile spreading over his face as he took in her words was really a sight to behold. "We're doing this," he repeated, voice filled with wonder.


	12. Chapter 12

_7 months later _

Chloe regarded her creation, smiling. It was Saturday morning, Trixie was still asleep for once, and Chloe used the opportunity to prepare a special breakfast. Among other things, there was a huge pile of pancakes next to a stack of light brown toast and a bowl of strawberries. Chloe was contemplating what else she could add to this breakfast deluxe, when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Chloe smiled. There really was only one person who would show up at her place unannounced on a Saturday morning. She hurried over to the door, and opened it. "One of these days you'll-" She didn't finish her complaint about Lucifer never bothering to call before showing up, too surprised by the sight before her. As expected, Lucifer stood in the door, smiling brightly. What she hadn't expected was baby Charlie in his arms, cooing happily, trying to grab the stubble on Lucifer's cheek.

Chloe frowned. "Hello?" she said, more a question than a greeting.

Lucifer continued smiling brightly at her. It was a little frazzled. It was the smile of a man who desperately wanted to convey that he was in control of the situation, and was in no way whatsoever terrified of a baby.

"Can I come in?" he asked brightly, already swooping in besides her without waiting for a reply.

She turned around, staring after him stupidly. "Why do you have Charlie?" she asked, voice full of suspicion, wondering what Lucifer was up to now.

"I'm babysitting him," Lucifer stated, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

Chloe snorted. "Right. You're telling me you volunteered to spend time with a baby?"

Lucifer nodded, bright smile still plastered on his face.

"Why?" Chloe asked bluntly.

Lucifer scoffed. "Maybe I just wanted to spend some quality time with my nephew."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Why?" she repeated.

Lucifer caved. "Linda and Amenadiel are helping out at work. You should see her. She's incredible. Linda will walk into the room of somebody who has been stuck in a loop for a thousand years and free them as if it were nothing. She's giving classes to the demons now about how to help people work through their guilt. And while she's helping with my job, I'm, well,-"

He gestured vaguely with his free left hand. "Babysitting?" Chloe supplied, a grin slowly spreading over her face.

"Yes." He readjusted Charlie on his arm, and the baby was finally able to pull on his beard. He made a happy gurgle. Lucifer glared down at him.

"And how is it going?" Chloe asked, trying to contain her amusement. It was funny to see Lucifer so out of his element. He was holding the baby very carefully, as if it were a bomb that might go off any moment. Next to the amusement, there was another, quite different feeling, deep in her chest, at the sight of Lucifer holding the infant. She did not examine the feeling any closer.

The happy mask on Lucifer's face fell for a moment, and he looked a little scared. "I told you I would never lie to you, so let's just say I could, maybe, possibly, do with a little help."

Chloe shook her head. "I'm surprised Linda left him in your charge."

Lucifer looked genuinely affronted. "Please. I am more than capable of being in charge of a tiny creature that can't even run away yet," he stated boldly, as if he had not asked for help only a moment before.

Charlie, clearly having inherited his father's sense of dramatic timing, chose that moment to start crying. Lucifer glared down at him with a disappointed expression, as if the baby was doing it on purpose. He tried rocking him a bit from side to side in an effort to calm him down, but the crying just got louder and louder. Lucifer looked at Chloe, a panicked plea for help in his expression that he was clearly too proud to voice.

Chloe took pity on him, taking the baby from his arms. Charlie stopped crying immediately, sticking his tongue out at Chloe. Lucifer glared at him again. "Traitor," he mumbled under his breath, but his voice was affectionate.

"I just meant that it's a big step for Linda, leaving Charlie with you," Chloe said. During the first few weeks, Linda had refused to let the baby leave her sight for even a minute. It was understandable, given what had happened, but it added an extra layer of stress for Linda in what was already a stressful situation. After 5 weeks running on almost no sleep, she had finally given in and at least allowed Amenadiel to watch their son on his own. As far as Chloe knew, he had never again been handed over to a nanny though.

"Nothing will happen to the child as long as I draw breath," Lucifer said seriously. The flair for the dramatic obviously ran in the entire family. Lucifer sighed, crossing his arms. "She did make me promise to go see you immediately," he admitted grudgingly after a moment. "I don't know why everybody thinks I'm incapable of watching a baby on my own."

"I don't think you're incapable of watching a baby," Chloe said honestly. "You're smart, you're kind, you're fun, and when you commit yourself to something, you always give it your all. As a matter of fact, I think you would be a great dad."

Chloe bit her lip, her eyes going wide. That was a bit more than she'd intended on sharing. But everybody was always looking down on Lucifer, including Lucifer himself, and she was just so sick of it.

Lucifer stared at her, a disbelieving smile on his face. "You really think so?"

Chloe, who had been looking at anything but Lucifer after her unplanned outburst, met his eyes again. "I know so," she said with conviction.

Lucifer continued staring at her, as if she were some wondrous thing that he couldn't quite believe actually existed. It was a little unnerving, to be regarded with such singular focus and intensity. Chloe cleared her throat, starting to feel a little self-conscious. Thankfully, she was saved by Lucifer's phone, which started beeping. He took it out, checking the screen. "Aha! Feeding time. That's why he was getting upset."

Chloe leaned over, glimpsing the notification on his screen. It had detailed instructions on what and how to feed the baby. And then some more instructions in capital letters about what food and liquids not to give to a baby. Chloe smiled. "I see Linda made sure to leave you well prepared."

Lucifer put the phone away quickly, frowning. "I'm sure I could have managed to keep a tiny half-angel alive on my own."

Chloe regarded the baby in her arms. He looked like any regular human baby to her. "Any sign of wings?" she asked, smiling down at him.

"Not a trace. Maybe he doesn't have any. Or he hasn't figured out how to make them appear yet. Your guess is as good as mine, or Amenadiel's, for that matter. Nobody has ever brought up a half-angel before."

Lucifer put the large bag he had slung over his shoulder down on the kitchen counter, starting to dig through it, probably in search of the baby food.

"Speaking of things nobody has ever done before, how are things going in hell?"

Of course, Chloe knew the big picture. While she hadn't been as involved as Linda, never quite working up the courage to visit hell herself, she had still spent more time talking to Lucifer in the last half year than ever before. He appeared by her side at random hours, sometimes while she was at work, sometimes at home, asking her advice. Well, more looking for her approval. It had become abundantly clear to her during the last months that for whatever inexplicable reason the devil himself highly valued the opinion of one Chloe Decker, regular mortal. They would sometimes talk for hours, about the mechanics of hell, the adjustment process for those returning to earth, sometimes even Lucifer's past. She knew so much more about him now.

They talked about everything under the sun, with one notable exception. Either one of them had yet to breach the topic of their relationship. The changes in hell had understandably taken precedence over everything else, and Lucifer still spend the vast majority of his time down there. There was now an armada of people like Reese, going from room to room, helping others. Lucifer tried to make the demons do the same, with mixed success. Some of them jumped at the opportunity to do something different, bored by the never-ending torture they had to apply day in, day out. Others reacted quite differently, calling the whole thing madness, almost going so far as to openly rebel against Lucifer. Tensions were still running high in the underworld, and Lucifer had to remain visible there. Which meant their relationship status remained in the same grey area it had been in when he returned to hell the first time.

From what Chloe heard, none of the demons who had taken to freeing souls were as successful at it as Linda. Lucifer had asked her to give seminars to the demons about how to confront one's guilt. It was a little surreal to think about. Amenadiel had insisted that she was not going down there, which is how Chloe suspected Linda had ended up agreeing to do it in the first place. Nobody told Linda Martin what she could or couldn't do. When it became clear that there would be no stopping her, Amenadiel had insisted that she would only go if he was accompanying her at all times, taking her back as quickly as angelically possible at the slightest cause for concern.

"Same old, same old," Lucifer replied, drawing her out of her thoughts. He pulled a small container out of the bag and held it up in the air triumphantly.

He got out a pot and emptied the container inside. Chloe was mildly surprised that he knew where she kept her pots. Now that she thought about it, Lucifer seemed strangely at home in her kitchen. Like he belonged. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part.

Trixie chose that moment to come out of her room. She yawned sleepily, but her eyes brightened when she saw Lucifer. They got even wider when she spotted the baby in Chloe's arms.

"Charlie! Can I hold him? He's so big now! I'll be careful, I promise." She beamed at Chloe and the baby. Chloe looked back to Lucifer, raising her eyebrows in question. He nodded his approval, and Trixie all but squealed in delight when Chloe carefully handed the baby over. He was long past the stage where his neck still needed support, and she knew with certainty that her daughter was responsible enough to handle him. Trixie proved her right when she slowly walked with him in the direction of her room instead of running off in excitement.

"I have so many things to show you!" Trixie said excitedly. Chloe heard her continuing to talk to the baby in her room, telling him the backstories of some of her stuffed animals. Chloe smiled, turning around to Lucifer. She saw him turning off the stove. She raised an eyebrow, and he shrugged. "Let's give them a moment. He can eat a bit later," he said, smiling as well.

"Oh! There is something I've been meaning to show you," Chloe said, interrupting the dangerously domestic mood that had settled over them. She grabbed her laptop from the kitchen counter and opened it up. She found the news report from the local station and hit play. The reporter was interviewing a man who, to be fair, looked like your run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorist with his unkempt hair and wild eyes. The man was talking without stopping for breath, about how all over the U.S. and possibly the world, strange people had started appearing, and the governments weren't doing anything about it. The reporter looked like he had mentally checked out, and was busy formulating a rant in his head for whoever had sent him out to interview another nut job. The man went on to say that some of these people spoke strange tongues, but he got interrupted by the reporter who exasperatedly asked if he was talking about immigrants. At that point, Lucifer closed the laptop, stopping the video.

"There are more and more people asking questions. You can't go on like this forever. Sooner or later somebody will figure out what's going on," Chloe said.

Lucifer shrugged, seeming completely unconcerned by what he'd just seen. "Never underestimate the human ability to ignore things they don't want to know about."

Chloe shook her head. "There will be a breaking point when too many people have come back and it will be impossible to ignore."

Lucifer sighed. "And I'll deal with it then. You know, we've improved the process a lot from when we first started. They now get a quick guide to life in the 21st century, a fake passport and some cash. The rest is on them."

Chloe nodded, deciding to let the issue go for now, in favor of another problem they kept coming back to. "Have you made up your mind whether or not there are irredeemable souls among them?" Were there crimes so despicable, so inhumane, that their perpetrators should not get a second chance? They had taken the easy way out in the beginning, starting with people like Harrison, whose sins, at heart, were committed while trying to help others. But at some point in the not-so-distant future, the demons and the free human souls roaming hell would get around to the tough cases, men and women who were war criminals and mass murderers.

Lucifer rubbed his right hand over his eyes, suddenly looking much more tired than only a moment before. "No case has come to my attention yet where one of the returnees has fallen back into their old behavior. But it's bound to happen sooner or later. One of these days we're going to release evil back into the world."

Chloe had learned early on in this endeavor that despite the confident facade he put on, Lucifer seemed to spend a lot of his life in constant self-doubt. She locked eyes with him. "Until then you'll have released hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are eager to make the most of their second chance and live a good life, helping others. You are doing an extraordinary thing that will change the destiny of an incredible amount of people for the better."

He nodded, his spirits visibly lifting at her praise. "You've dealt with some horrible people. Do _you_ think there are souls that belong in hell? Souls that we should not reach out to? Doors that have to remain locked for all eternity?"

And there it was again. She had asked Lucifer a highly complex, philosophical question, and instead of answering, he turned the question back to her, as if he for some inexplicable reason valued her opinion more than his own. She had told him on several occasions that she didn't feel she had any expertise to answer these types of questions. Lucifer would always reply that being an empathetic human was all the qualification needed. Chloe wasn't so sure. She tried to imagine it from the victim's point of view. How would they feel if the person who murdered them or did God knows what other awful things to them, were to be given another chance? She remembered the cold, dead eyes of some serial killers in the interrogation room, and the relief she had felt knowing these monsters would never walk free again.

"Some doors need to stay closed," she said, trying not think about the fact that she might have just condemned countless souls to an eternity of suffering.

Lucifer regarded her, his expression unreadable. Then he nodded. Both of them were silent for a long moment, thinking about the enormity of the decisions they were making, and the potential cost of making the wrong one. The only sound in the sudden silence was the happy laughter coming from Trixie's room.

* * *

Their somber mood evaporated at breakfast, when Chloe watched Trixie feeding Charlie. He was sitting in Lucifer's lap, since they didn't have a highchair, and seemed intent on getting as much of his food on Lucifer's suit as possible. Lucifer had saved his suit jacket early on, but he regarded every new spot on his dress shirt and suit pants with such heartfelt disdain that it made both Chloe and Trixie burst out into laughter every single time.

Charlie managed to get his fingers into the contents of another spoon full of food, and promptly placed his hand flat on Lucifer's chest, gurgling happily. Chloe burst out laughing once again, and Lucifer, who had been busy staring at his chest unhappily, looked up to glare at her instead. Chloe tried to stop, but the disgruntled look on his face had her snorting again within seconds. She saw the corners of Lucifer's mouth lift up as he started smiling in spite of himself.

Chloe looked at him, and suddenly felt a strange, almost painful, sensation in her chest. The whole thing was just so very _domestic_, Lucifer for once not busy with some grand scheme involving heaven and hell, but simply having breakfast with them, a baby sitting in his lap. It hurt to think that he never had moments like this, never grew up, never had a real family, only a father who demanded obedience and siblings who didn't consider him worthy.

The doorbell rang, drawing her out of her thoughts. Trixie was staying with Dan this weekend, and with all the fun they'd been having, Chloe had forgotten to keep an eye on the time. Trixie ran off to quickly get dressed, pack a bag, and, if Chloe was lucky, brush her teeth as well.

Chloe went to open the door. It was indeed Dan, who seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood, meaning he was not brooding and glaring at everyone and everything in his vicinity. He stopped and frowned when he spotted Lucifer at the table, but then, to her utter surprise, Chloe saw him crack a smile as he took in the state of Lucifer's dress shirt and pants, and the sour mood the other man was in.

"Baby troubles?" Dan asked teasingly, walking over to pick Charlie up and whirl him around in the air carefully. Charlie laughed happily, and Lucifer looked even more disgruntled. He used the opportunity to get a towel and try to clean his dress shirt, but it was beyond saving with such simple measures.

Trixie came running back, a small backpack slung over her shoulder. Dan leaned down and she gave him a hug. Charlie seemed happy to be included, keeping one of his arms around Dan and reaching the other around Trixie.

Dan surprised Chloe again by asking "Did you brush your teeth?". Trixie rolled her eyes, like she couldn't believe the things her parents made her do, but obediently ran off to the bathroom. Dan handed Charlie back to Lucifer. The baby made a disapproving noise, reaching out to Dan. He seemed to have singled out Lucifer as the one person he didn't like. Dan smiled at the baby, then there was a long, awkward silence while he waited for Trixie to get ready and neither one of them seemed to be able to come up with anything to say.

"I'll have her back before dinner tomorrow," Dan said finally. Chloe nodded. They had already agreed on this, but he probably just wanted to say something to get rid of the awkwardness.

Trixie ran back in like a whirlwind, kissing Chloe goodbye and running out the door in a hurry. Dan walked out after her, a small smile on his lips, leaving her with Lucifer and a baby.

Well. Chloe cleared her throat, unsure what to do next. She decided to occupy herself by sorting out the mess left over from breakfast.

"Do you want to go for a walk? I left his buggy outside," Lucifer said, unusually subdued.

Chloe frowned, looking up from where she had been cleaning the traces of the baby feeding adventures off the table. She had a sudden, unbidden flashback to another walk with a small baby, a long time ago. It had been one of those rare moments when everything had aligned, everything had made sense. It had been a beautiful, sunny winter day, and she and Dan had just been walking around aimlessly, young, in love, unbeatable. She had been so happy that day, she remembered. It was a bittersweet memory.

She looked at Lucifer and wondered again if he had any memories like that one. Had he ever gotten a chance to be happy like that, believing that everything in his life finally made sense and the future looked bright? Did he spend a single day of his existence carefree and happy?

"Never mind, I'm sure you have other things-"

Chloe realized with a start that she had left Lucifer hanging for quite a long time, leading him to the assumption that she didn't want to spend time with him and the baby.

"Not at all, a walk sounds great," she said brightly and Lucifer first frowned, then smiled.

* * *

In spite of all the time they had spent together during the last months, it still felt weird to be walking next to Lucifer while he was pushing a stroller with a baby. They walked in silence. Chloe chanced a glance at Lucifer from time to time, but he was looking straight ahead. The silence wasn't awkward as such, more the comfortable type between good friends who didn't have anything to share at that particular moment. Charlie had finally settled down, and was quietly watching his surroundings with the rapt, fascinated attention that only babies and young children were capable of.

Even though they had been talking to each other regularly for months now, there were still some things they never touched on, like their relationship. And there was another thing Chloe had been mulling over for quite some time, and had yet to find the right moment to bring up. She was a bit afraid of what it might trigger, how exactly Lucifer would react to it. Maybe it would be best to just get it out, so she could stop thinking about it.

"You told me that you think you misunderstood your father's intention, that hell was never meant solely as a place for punishment, but as a chance for redemption as well." She paused, carefully considering her next words, glancing at Lucifer again. He was looking back at her now, a small frown on his face, clearly uncertain where she was going with this.

Chloe took a deep breath. No time like the present._This is Lucifer. You talk to him about matters affecting the entirety of humanity on a daily basis, for God's sake. You can do this._

She stopped walking, and Lucifer followed suit, raising his eyebrows expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

"Do you think, that maybe- maybe his intention in sending you there was similar? That maybe he didn't just want to punish you?" Lucifer stared at her, a certain coldness creeping into his features, but Chloe charged on bravely, now that she had finally found the courage to bring it up. "That maybe he wanted you to have a chance at redemption as well? You said you never felt quite at home in heaven. Maybe he wanted for you to have a chance at a different life, your own way to be happy?" Her voice cracked a bit at the end, and she bit her tongue before saying _here, with me_.

Chloe stared at him, waiting for his reaction. She could see that his expression had darkened, like it did without fail every time somebody mentioned his father. She wondered if maybe she had gone too far, had finally overstepped her boundaries. She had felt in over her head for quite some time now, but maybe this would be the final straw, the moment he snapped and told her she didn't know the first thing about what she was saying. Which was true. The only thing she knew was that it felt right, that she hoped to God it was right, because she fervently hoped that there was a chance for Lucifer to be happy.

Lucifer let go of the stroller, but they were on an even stretch of sidewalk, so it didn't roll away. Chloe saw him clenching his hand into a fist, then opening it up again, repeating the movement several times, clearly upset. She braced herself for another rant about the evils of his father, something which she was quite familiar with by now.

Lucifer took her completely by surprise though. Instead of getting angry, he just ran his hand through his hair in an almost helpless gesture and shrugged his shoulders. When he spoke, his voice was timid, greatly at odds with his usual demeanor. "Honestly? I don't know. I never know anything for certain with him." He sighed. "Maybe I'm one of the irredeemable ones. A door that should stay closed forever."

Chloe stared at him in shock. "You must know that that isn't true."

"Do I?" he asked, sounding impossibly young, and lost.

Chloe closed the distance between them, putting a hand on his face, emphasizing each word. "You do. And so do I."

He frowned, then a hesitant smile started spreading over his face. "Then in this, as in everything else, I shall choose to trust your judgement."

Chloe smiled. "Wise choice," she said, leaning up to kiss him.


End file.
